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Election Day Voter Registration Bill Approved by House Committee

A bill that would allow citizens to register to vote in Utah on election-day was approved by a House Committee today.  HB 91 would allow voters to register at the polls on and require county clerks to count those votes.  Democrat Rebecca Chavez Houck of Salt Lake County is the sponsor of the bill.  She hopes the legislation would increase voter turnout.

“On election day, they would fill out that provisional ballot. It act as their registration, just like it does right now, but then during the canvass the clerks would be required to count those votes, once they determine those people are eligible,” said Chavez-Houck.

Those testifying against the bill at the hearing claim it would create more work for county clerks and wouldn’t motivate voters to register before election-day.  Thomas Wright is the Chairman of the Utah Republican Party.  He says the bill would streamline and improve the registration process.

“In the time it takes to find out somebody’s not registered and disqualify their ballot. They could have just registered them and counted it and it probably would be just as much energy and time spent,” said Wright.

The bill passed out of the House Government Operations Committee by a vote of 6-2. It now heads to the full House for consideration.

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