HB 145 (passed in 2019) modified the ballot measure process in Utah by creating a rolling window for signature submissions and for signature removals. This should make the process more fair by providing supporters of a ballot measure with a guaranteed path to the ballot: with enough early signatures, supporters can likely avoid a Count My Vote outcome. (In 2017, Count My Vote gathered what appeared to be enough signatures to qualify for the 2018 ballot, but opponents knocked it off the ballot with a well-funded and well-organized campaign that focused on the one-month “limbo period” that existed, under the pre-HB145 rules, between the mid-April deadline to turn in signatures and the mid-May deadline for signers to remove their signatures. By getting enough people in key areas of the state to remove their signatures, the opposition campaign was able to bring the signature tally below the required threshold, which mandates a certain number of signatures in 26 of the 29 state Senate districts.)

Under HB145, the process is now as follows:

  • Each signature packet must be turned in no more than 30 days after the first signature on that packet.
  • The county clerk then has 30 days (or, after Dec 1st, 21 days) to certify each signature and post the names online for at least 90 days (or, after Dec 1st, for at least 45 days).
  • A voter can petition to remove their name during the 90 days (or, after Dec 1st, 45 days) following the posting of that voter’s name online by the county clerk.

Some examples may help clarify:

  1. A signature dated June 1 must be turned in by July 1 (30 days). If it is turned in on that date, the county clerk has until July 31 (30 days) to post the name online. If the name is posted online on that date, the voter has until October 29 (90 days) to remove their name.
  2. The same 30 day / 30 day / 90 day process applies for the next few months, and in particular the 120-day window after signature turn-in can be summarized as follows: signatures turned in by the end of June cannot be removed after October, signatures turned in by the end of July cannot be removed after November, signatures turned in by the end of August cannot be removed after December, signatures turned in by the end of September cannot be removed after January, and signatures turned in by the end of October cannot be removed after February.
  3. There is a different process for signatures turned in on or after December 1, so the final example of this 30 day / 30 day / 90 day process is that a signature dated October 31 must be turned in by November 30 (30 days). If it is turned in on that date, the county clerk has until December 30 (30 days) to post the name online. If it is posted online on that date, the voter has until March 29 (90 days) to remove their name.
  4. A signature dated Nov 1 (only one day after the previous example!) must be turned in by Dec 1 (30 days). If it is turned in on that date, the county clerk has until Dec 22 (21 days) to post the name online. If it is posted online on that date, the voter has until Feb 5 (45 days) to remove their name.
  5. A signature dated Feb 18 (the last day of signature gathering for 2020) must be turned in that same day, Feb 18. If it is turned in on that date, the county clerk has until March 10 (21 days) to post the name online. If it is posted on that date, the voter has until April 24 (45 days) to remove their name.