A simple voter registration bill flipped on the floor, drawing privacy breach concerns
A straightforward proposal to allow Utahns purchasing a hunting or fishing license to receive a voter registration form took an unexpected and controversial turn when it hit the House floor this week.
Layton Republican Rep. Trevor Lee, the legislation’s sponsor, introduced a last-minute change so the bill now allows “the lieutenant governor or the legislative auditor general to contract with a third-party to assist in the review and identification of inaccuracies in the voter registration database.”
Lee described the change as small, but it drew opposition from lawmakers of both major parties. The bill passed the House with a tight 39-32 vote and now goes to the Senate for consideration.
“I appreciate what the sponsor is trying to do here, but I have huge concerns,” Sandy Democratic Rep. Andrew Stoddard told the House on Monday. “One is about the change of the tone of the bill. This bill started out initially as a very straightforward bill with no opposition to now having a very concerning part added to it with this substitute.”
https://utahnewsdispatch.com/briefs/a-simple-voter-registration-bill-flipped-on-the-floor-drawing-privacy-breach-concerns/
