A clerk shall use the following procedures to determine whether a signer of a petition is a registered voter and to determine the address where the voter is registered to vote:
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.
Official register: means the official record furnished to election officials by the election officer that contains the information required by Section 20A-5-401. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Petition: means one of the following written requests, signed by registered voters, appealing to an authority with respect to a particular cause:
(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
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
if a signer’s name and address provided by the individual with the individual’s petition signature exactly match a name and address shown on the official register and the signer’s signature appears substantially similar to the signature on the statewide voter registration database, the clerk shall declare the signature valid for the district or jurisdiction in which the signer is registered to vote;
(b)
if there is no exact match of an address and a name, the clerk shall declare the signature valid for the district or jurisdiction in which the signer is registered to vote, if:
(i)
the address provided by the individual with the individual’s petition signature matches the address of an individual on the official register with a substantially similar name; and
(ii)
the signer’s signature appears substantially similar to the signature on the statewide voter registration database of the individual described in Subsection (1)(b)(i);
(c)
if there is no match of an address and a substantially similar name, the clerk shall declare the signature valid for the district or jurisdiction in which the signer is registered to vote if:
(i)
the birth date or age provided by the individual with the individual’s petition signature matches the birth date or age of an individual on the official register with a substantially similar name; and
(ii)
the signer’s signature appears substantially similar to the signature on the statewide voter registration database of the individual described in Subsection (1)(c)(i).
(2)
If a signature is not declared valid under Subsection (1)(a), (b), or (c), the clerk shall declare the signature to be invalid.
