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
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;
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.
Municipality: means a city, town, or metro township. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Official ballot: means the ballots distributed by the election officer for voters to record their votes. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
shall designate at least one ballot drop box in each municipality and reservation located in the jurisdiction to which the election relates;
(ii)
may designate additional ballot drop boxes for the election officer‘s jurisdiction;
(iii)
shall clearly mark each ballot drop box as an official ballot drop box for the election officer’s jurisdiction;
(iv)
shall provide 24-hour recorded video surveillance, without audio, of each unattended ballot drop box;
(v)
shall post a sign on or near each unattended ballot drop box indicating that the ballot drop box is under 24-hour video surveillance; and
(vi)
shall ensure that a camera, a video, or a recording of a video described in Subsection (1)(a)(iv) may only be accessed:
(A)
by the election officer;
(B)
by a custodian of the camera, video, or recording;
(C)
by the lieutenant governor;
(D)
by the legislative auditor general, when performing an audit; or
(E)
by, or pursuant to an order of, a court of competent jurisdiction.
(b)
An individual may not view a video, or a recording of a video, described in Subsection (1)(a)(iv), unless the individual:
(i)
is an individual described in Subsection (1)(a)(vi); and
(ii)
views the video to the extent necessary to:
(A)
ensure compliance with Subsection (1)(a)(iv), (1)(a)(vi), or (1)(c); or
(B)
investigate a concern relating to ballots or the ballot box.
(c)
The election officer, or the custodian of the recording, shall keep a recording described in Subsection (1)(a)(iv) until the later of:
(i)
the end of the calendar year in which the election was held; or
(ii)
if the election is contested, when the contest is resolved.
(2)
Except as provided in Section 20A-1-308 or Subsection (5), the election officer shall, at least 28 days before the date of the election, provide notice of the location of each ballot drop box designated under Subsection (1), by publishing notice for the jurisdiction holding the election, as a class A notice under Section 63G-30-102, for at least 28 days before the day of the election.
(3)
Instead of including the location of ballot drop boxes, a notice required under Subsection (2) may specify the following sources where a voter may view or obtain a copy of all ballot drop box locations:
(a)
the jurisdiction’s website;
(b)
the physical address of the jurisdiction’s offices; and
(c)
a mailing address and telephone number.
(4)
The election officer shall include in the notice described in Subsection (2):
(a)
the address of the Statewide Electronic Voter Information Website and, if available, the address of the election officer’s website, with a statement indicating that the election officer will post on the website the location of each ballot drop box, including any changes to the location of a ballot drop box and the location of additional ballot drop boxes; and
(b)
a phone number that a voter may call to obtain information regarding the location of a ballot drop box.
(5)
(a)
Except as provided in Section 20A-1-308, the election officer may, after the deadline described in Subsection (2):
(i)
if necessary, change the location of a ballot drop box; or
(ii)
if the election officer determines that the number of ballot drop boxes is insufficient due to the number of registered voters who are voting, designate additional ballot drop boxes.
(b)
Except as provided in Section 20A-1-308, if an election officer changes the location of a ballot box or designates an additional ballot drop box location, the election officer shall, as soon as is reasonably possible, give notice of the changed ballot drop box location or the additional ballot drop box location:
(i)
to the lieutenant governor, for posting on the Statewide Voter Information Website;
(ii)
by posting the information on the website of the election officer, if available; and
(iii)
by posting notice:
(A)
for a change in the location of a ballot drop box, at the new location and, if possible, the old location; and
(B)
for an additional ballot drop box location, at the additional ballot drop box location.
(6)
An election officer may, at any time, authorize two or more poll workers to remove a ballot drop box from a location, or to remove ballots from a ballot drop box for processing.
(7)
(a)
At least two poll workers must be present when a poll worker collects ballots from a ballot drop box and delivers the ballots to the location where the ballots will be opened and counted.
(b)
An election officer shall ensure that the chain of custody of ballots placed in a ballot box are recorded and tracked from the time the ballots are removed from the ballot box until the ballots are delivered to the location where the ballots will be opened and counted.
Amended by Chapter 45, 2023 General Session Amended by Chapter 297, 2023 General Session Amended by Chapter 435, 2023 General Session
