20A-7-202.  Statewide initiative process — Initiative application procedures — Time to gather signatures — Grounds for rejection.

(1)  Individuals wishing to circulate an initiative petition shall file an initiative application with the lieutenant governor.

Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-7-202

  • 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
  • Initiative: means a new law proposed for adoption by the public as provided in this chapter. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
  • Initiative application: means :
(a) for a statewide initiative, an application described in Subsection 20A-7-202(2) that includes all the information, statements, documents, and notarized signatures required under Subsection 20A-7-202(2); or
(b) for a local initiative, an application described in Subsection 20A-7-502(2) that includes all the information, statements, documents, and notarized signatures required under Subsection 20A-7-502(2). See Utah Code 20A-7-101
  • Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • 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
  • Signature sheets: means sheets in the form required by this chapter that are used under the manual initiative process or the manual referendum process to collect signatures in support of an initiative or referendum. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
  • Sponsors: means the legal voters who support the initiative or referendum and who sign the initiative application or referendum application. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
    • (2)  The initiative application shall include:

    (a)  the name and residence address of at least five sponsors of the initiative petition;

    (b)  a statement indicating that each of the sponsors is registered to vote in Utah;

    (c)  a statement indicating whether the initiative will be presented to:

    (i)  the Legislature under Subsection 20A-7-201(1); or

    (ii)  a vote of the people under Subsection 20A-7-201(2);

    (d)  the signature of each of the sponsors, attested to by a notary public;

    (e)  a copy of the proposed law that includes, in the following order:

    (i)  the title of the proposed law, that clearly expresses the subject of the law;

    (ii)  a description of all proposed sources of funding for the costs associated with the proposed law, including the proposed percentage of total funding from each source; and

    (iii)  the text of the proposed law;

    (f)  if the initiative proposes a tax increase, the following statement, “This initiative seeks to increase the current (insert name of tax) rate by (insert the tax percentage difference) percent, resulting in a(n) (insert the tax percentage increase) percent increase in the current tax rate.”; and

    (g)  a statement indicating whether persons gathering signatures for the initiative petition may be paid for gathering signatures.

    (3) 

    (a)  An individual’s status as a resident, under Subsection (2), is determined in accordance with Section 20A-2-105.

    (b)  The initiative application and the initiative application’s contents are public when filed with the lieutenant governor.

    (4)  If the initiative petition fails to qualify for the ballot of the election described in Subsection 20A-7-201(2)(b), the sponsors shall:

    (a)  submit a new initiative application;

    (b)  obtain new signature sheets; and

    (c)  collect signatures again.

    (5)  The lieutenant governor shall reject an initiative application or an initiative application addendum filed under Subsection 20A-7-204.1(6) and not issue signature sheets if:

    (a)  the proposed law:

    (i)  is patently unconstitutional;

    (ii)  is nonsensical;

    (iii)  could not become law if passed;

    (iv)  contains more than one subject as evaluated in accordance with Subsection (6); or

    (v)  is identical or substantially similar to a law proposed by an initiative for which signatures were submitted to the county clerks and lieutenant governor for certification within two years preceding the date on which the initiative application for the new initiative is filed; or

    (b)  the subject of the proposed law is not clearly expressed in the law’s title.

    (6)  To evaluate whether the proposed law contains more than one subject under Subsection (5)(a)(iv), the lieutenant governor shall apply the same standard provided in Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 22, which prohibits a bill from passing that contains more than one subject.

    Amended by Chapter 107, 2023 General Session

      Previous section
    Next section  
     Part 2 Contents