A women inserts her ballot in a ballot drop box Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, in Salt Lake City. Photo credit: Rick Bowmer, Associated Press.
SALT LAKE CITY –A bill that tightens Utah’s election security is headed for a full House vote.
If passed, House Bill 313 would create a law mandating that someone who votes in Utah cannot also vote in another state.
It would mandate that a voter provide a valid identification card if they did not do so when registering to vote.
And it would create 24-hour video surveillance of drop boxes used by Utah voters.
“This bill improves our systems and processes,” said Lt. Governor Diedre Henderson who came to Tuesday’s committee hearing to offer her support of the bill.
Utah’s director of elections, Ryan Cowley, said his concern is for the cost of 24-hour dropbox monitoring. He wants to assure that a requirement for monitoring won’t lead to fewer dropboxes in Utah.
Supporters of the bill say that wouldn’t happen because the bill also requests money from the state to pay for the surveillance.
House Bill 313 would also require the Lt. Governor’s office to audit voter registration rolls and tighten up the rules for those who are responsible for moving the ballots.
“The county clerks (currently) treat the ballots with respect, and we haven’t had any issues there,” Cowley said. “But it’s not a bad thing to have a few more rules.”