- A Senate committee stopped a bill requiring Utah voters to show ID for mail-in ballots.
- The bill was backed by House leadership but met resistance from senators who didn't think it was ready.
- Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell suggested further work on the policy in future sessions.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Senate committee shot down a bill that would have required Utah voters to turn in mailed ballot by showing their ID at a ballot drop box.
HB479 was similar to a proposal last year on mail-in voting and would have required that county clerks staff each ballot drop box with two poll workers to check voters' identification during the weeks leading up to each election.
The bill had buy-in from top Republicans in the House who said it was needed to restore faith in the state's election system. But it didn't have the legs to get through a Senate committee Tuesday, after the Senate sponsor abruptly moved that the committee skip it and move on to the next issue, likely dooming any further progress before the session ends Friday.
After Rep. Jefferson Burton, R-Salem, finished presenting the bill to the Senate Government Operations Committee, Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, thanked Burton and acknowledged that there is support for finding a better way to verify that voters are who they say they are.
"It's been a difficult bill as I've had a chance to work on this," he said. "I think there are a lot of things you're trying to accomplish, and there's a lot of support for. But I also think that logistically, I think we're still concerned — how do we move forward and implement some of the things that are recommended in this bill?"
He suggested that lawmakers continue to work on the policy in future sessions, and the committee voted 6-0 to halt its progress.
Burton appeared caught off guard by the sudden dismissal and thanked the committee for hearing him out.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, McKell said he believes lawmakers still haven't worked out how to make the bill practical, and rural areas of the state still have concerns about how they would implement the policy.
"The logistics of the bill just wasn't quite there yet, and we're running out of time and I just didn't feel like we had enough time to land the logistics," he said.
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he liked the bill. Given that many Utahns already use ballot drop boxes to vote, he said: "I'm not sure it hurts to have to show your ID."
So, is the bill done for good this year?
"Let me just say, no, because until midnight strikes (on Friday), no," McKell said. "There is a scenario where we can continue to work on a study, and there's a little bit of time left. ... I've been up here long enough — no bill is dead until the gavel comes down."
