20A-1-1003.  Signature removal — Statement required.

(1)  A voter who signs a petition may have the voter’s signature removed from the petition by submitting to the clerk a statement requesting that the voter’s signature be removed.

Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-1-1003

(a) a local petition;
(b) a petition to consolidate two or more municipalities under Section 10-2-601;
(c) a petition for disincorporation of a municipality under Section 10-2-701;
(d) a petition to incorporate a proposed municipality under Section 10-2a-208;
(e) a petition to consolidate adjoining counties under Section 17-2-103;
(f) a petition to annex a portion of a county to an adjoining county under Section 17-2-203;
(g) a petition for the creation of a new county under Section 17-3-1;
(h) a petition for the removal of a county seat under Section 17-11-2;
(i) a petition for the adoption of an optional plan under Section 17-52a-303;
(j) a petition for the repeal of an optional plan under Section 17-52a-505;
(k) a petition to create a special district under Section 17B-1-203;
(l) a petition to withdraw an area from a special district under Section 17B-1-504;
(m) a petition to dissolve a special district under Section 17B-1-1303;
(n) a petition for issuance of local building authority bonds under Section 17D-2-502;
(o) a petition to become a registered political party under Section 20A-8-103;
(p) a nomination petition for municipal office under Section 20A-9-203;
(q) a nomination petition for a regular primary election under Subsection 20A-9-403(3)(a) and Section 20A-9-405;
(r) a petition for a political party to qualify as a municipal political party under Section 20A-9-404;
(s) a petition for the nomination of a qualified political party under Section 20A-9-408;
(t) a nomination petition for a candidate not affiliated with a political party under Section 20A-9-502;
(u) a nomination petition to become a delegate to a ratification convention under Section 20A-15-103;
(v) a petition to create a new school district under Section 53G-3-301;
(w) a petition to consolidate school districts under Section 53G-3-401;
(x) a petition to transfer a portion of a school district to another district under Section 53G-3-501;
(y) a petition to determine whether a privatization project agreement should be approved under Section 73-10d-4; or
(z) a statewide petition. See Utah Code 20A-1-1001
  • Resident: means a person who resides within a specific voting precinct in Utah. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
  • Signature: includes a name, mark, or sign written with the intent to authenticate an instrument or writing. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Substantially similar name: means :
    (i) the given name, the surname, or both, provided by the individual with the individual's petition signature, contain only minor spelling differences when compared to the given name and surname shown on the official register;
    (ii) the surname provided by the individual with the individual's petition signature exactly matches the surname shown on the official register, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown is a commonly used abbreviation or variation of the other;
    (iii) the surname provided by the individual with the individual's petition signature exactly matches the surname shown on the official register, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown is accompanied by a first or middle initial or a middle name which is not shown on the other record; or
    (iv) the surname provided by the individual with the individual's petition signature exactly matches the surname shown on the official register, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown is an alphabetically corresponding initial that has been provided in the place of a given name shown on the other record. See Utah Code 20A-1-1001
  • Voter: means an individual who:
    (a) meets the requirements for voting in an election;
    (b) meets the requirements of election registration;
    (c) is registered to vote; and
    (d) is listed in the official register book. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
    (2) 

    (a) 

    (i)  The statement described in Subsection (1) shall include:

    (A)  the name of the voter;

    (B)  the resident address at which the voter is registered to vote;

    (C)  the voter’s signature; and

    (D)  the date of the signature described in Subsection (2)(a)(i)(C).

    (ii)  To increase the likelihood of the voter’s signature being identified and removed, the statement may include the voter’s birth date or age.

    (b)  Except as provided in Subsection 20A-7-216(5)(c), 20A-7-314(5)(c), 20A-7-515(4)(d), or 20A-7-615(4)(d), a voter may not submit a statement described in Subsection (1) by email or other electronic means.

    (c)  In order for the signature to be removed, the clerk must receive the statement described in Subsection (1) no later than the deadline described in the provision of law governing the petition.

    (d)  A voter may only remove a signature from a petition in accordance with this section and the provision of law governing the petition.

    (e)  A clerk shall analyze a signature, for purposes of removing a signature from a petition, in accordance with Subsection (3).

    (3)  The clerk shall use the following procedures to determine whether to remove an individual’s signature from a petition after receiving a timely, valid statement requesting removal of the signature:

    (a)  if the signer’s name and address shown on the statement and the petition exactly match a name and address shown on the official register and the individual’s signature on the statement is reasonably consistent with the individual’s signature on the statewide voter registration database, the clerk shall remove the signature from the petition;

    (b)  if there is no exact match of an address and a name, the clerk shall remove the signature from the petition if:

    (i)  the address on the statement and the address provided by the individual with the individual’s petition signature match the address of an individual on the official register with a substantially similar name; and

    (ii)  the individual’s signature on the statement is reasonably consistent with the signature on the statewide voter registration database of the individual described in Subsection (3)(b)(i);

    (c)  if there is no match of an address and a substantially similar name, the clerk shall remove the signature from the petition if:

    (i)  the birth date or age on the statement and the birth date or age provided by the individual with the individual’s petition signature match the birth date or age of an individual on the official register with a substantially similar name; and

    (ii)  the individual’s signature on the statement is reasonably consistent with the signature on the statewide voter registration database of the individual described in Subsection (3)(b)(i); and

    (d)  if a signature does not qualify for removal under Subsection (3)(a), (b), or (c), the clerk may not remove the signature from the petition.

    Enacted by Chapter 116, 2023 General Session
    Amended by Chapter 116, 2023 General Session, (Coordination Clause)

      Previous section
    Next section  
     Part 10 Contents

    LawServer is used by

    New York Times, IRS, USDA, UCLA, DOT