20A-4-304. Declaration of results — Canvassers’ report.
(1)
Each board of canvassers shall:
Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-4-304
Ballot: means the storage medium, including a paper, mechanical, or electronic storage medium, that records an individual voter's vote. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Ballot proposition: means a question, issue, or proposal that is submitted to voters on the ballot for their approval or rejection including:
(a)
an opinion question specifically authorized by the Legislature;
(b)
a constitutional amendment;
(c)
an initiative;
(d)
a referendum;
(e)
a bond proposition;
(f)
a judicial retention question;
(g)
an incorporation of a city or town; or
(h)
any other ballot question specifically authorized by the Legislature. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Election: means a regular general election, a municipal general election, a statewide special election, a local special election, a regular primary election, a municipal primary election, and a special district election. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Election officer: means :
(a)
the lieutenant governor, for all statewide ballots and elections;
for an election other than a bond election, the count of votes cast in the election and the election returns requested by the board of canvassers; or
(b)
for bond elections, the count of those votes cast for and against the bond proposition plus any or all of the election returns that the board of canvassers may request. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Local special election: means a special election called by the governing body of a local political subdivision in which all registered voters of the local political subdivision may vote. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Presidential Primary Election: means the election established in 8. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Voting precinct: means the smallest geographical voting unit, established under 3. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
(a)
except as provided in 6, declare “elected” or “nominated” those persons who:
(i)
had the highest number of votes; and
(ii)
sought election or nomination to an office completely within the board’s jurisdiction;
(b)
declare:
(i)
“approved” those ballot propositions that:
(A)
had more “yes” votes than “no” votes; and
(B)
were submitted only to the voters within the board’s jurisdiction; or
(ii)
“rejected” those ballot propositions that:
(A)
had more “no” votes than “yes” votes or an equal number of “no” votes and “yes” votes; and
(B)
were submitted only to the voters within the board’s jurisdiction;
(c)
certify the vote totals for persons and for and against ballot propositions that were submitted to voters within and beyond the board’s jurisdiction and transmit those vote totals to the lieutenant governor; and
(d)
if applicable, certify the results of each special district election to the special district clerk.
(2)
The election officer shall submit a report to the board of canvassers that includes the following information:
(a)
the total number of votes cast in the board’s jurisdiction;
(b)
the names of each candidate whose name appeared on the ballot;
(c)
the title of each ballot proposition that appeared on the ballot;
(d)
each office that appeared on the ballot;
(e)
from each voting precinct:
(i)
the number of votes for each candidate;
(ii)
for each race conducted by instant runoff voting under 6, the number of valid votes cast for each candidate for each potential ballot-counting phase and the name of the candidate excluded in each ballot-counting phase; and
(iii)
the number of votes for and against each ballot proposition;
(f)
the total number of votes given in the board’s jurisdiction to each candidate, and for and against each ballot proposition;
(g)
standardized statistics, on a form provided by the lieutenant governor, disclosing:
(i)
the number of ballots counted;
(ii)
provisional ballots; and
(iii)
the number of ballots rejected;
(h)
a final ballot reconciliation report;
(i)
other information required by law to be provided to the board of canvassers; and
(j)
a statement certifying that the information contained in the report is accurate.
(3)
The election officer and the board of canvassers shall:
(a)
review the report to ensure that the report is correct; and
(b)
sign the report.
(4)
The election officer shall:
(a)
record or file the certified report in a book kept for that purpose;
(b)
prepare and transmit a certificate of nomination or election under the officer’s seal to each nominated or elected candidate;
(c)
publish a copy of the certified report in accordance with Subsection (5); and
(d)
file a copy of the certified report with the lieutenant governor.
(5)
Except as provided in Subsection (6), the election officer shall, no later than seven days after the day on which the board of canvassers declares the election results, publicize the certified report described in Subsection (2) for the jurisdiction, as a class A notice under Section 63G-30-102, for at least seven days.
(6)
Instead of including a copy of the entire certified report, a notice required under Subsection (5) may contain a statement that:
(a)
includes the following: “The Board of Canvassers for [indicate name of jurisdiction] has prepared a report of the election results for the [indicate type and date of election].”; and
(b)
specifies the following sources where an individual may view or obtain a copy of the entire certified report:
(i)
if the jurisdiction has a website, the jurisdiction’s website;
(ii)
the physical address for the jurisdiction; and
(iii)
a mailing address and telephone number.
(7)
When there has been a regular general or a statewide special election for statewide officers, for officers that appear on the ballot in more than one county, or for a statewide or two or more county ballot proposition, each board of canvassers shall:
(a)
prepare a separate report detailing the number of votes for each candidate and the number of votes for and against each ballot proposition; and
(b)
transmit the separate report by registered mail to the lieutenant governor.
(8)
In each county election, municipal election, school election, special district election, and local special election, the election officer shall transmit the reports to the lieutenant governor within 14 days after the date of the election.
(9)
In a regular primary election and in a presidential primary election, the board shall transmit to the lieutenant governor:
(a)
the county totals for multi-county races, to be telephoned or faxed to the lieutenant governor not later than the second Tuesday after the election; and
(b)
a complete tabulation showing voting totals for all primary races, precinct by precinct, to be mailed to the lieutenant governor on or before the third Friday following the primary election.
Amended by Chapter 15, 2023 General Session Amended by Chapter 297, 2023 General Session Amended by Chapter 435, 2023 General Session
