Utah Statutes § 20A-7-303 Manual referendum process - Form of referendum petition and signature sheets

Statute Text

(1) This section applies only to the manual referendum process.

(2)

(a) Each proposed referendum petition shall be printed in substantially the following form:

"REFERENDUM PETITION To the Honorable ____, Lieutenant Governor:

We, the undersigned citizens of Utah, respectfully order that Senate (or House) Bill No. ____, entitled (title of act, and, if the petition is against less than the whole act, set forth here the part or parts on which the referendum is sought), passed by the Legislature of the state of Utah during the ____ Session, be referred to the people of Utah for their approval or rejection at a regular general election or a statewide special election;

Each signer says:

I have personally signed this referendum petition;

The date next to my signature correctly reflects the date that I actually signed the referendum petition;

I have personally reviewed the entire statement included with this referendum packet;

I am registered to vote in Utah; and

My residence and post office address are written correctly after my name.".

(b) The sponsors of a referendum or an agent of the sponsors shall attach a copy of the law that is the subject of the referendum to each referendum petition.

(3) Each referendum signature sheet shall:

(a) be printed on sheets of paper 8-1/2 inches long and 11 inches wide;

(b) be ruled with a horizontal line three-fourths inch from the top, with the space above that line blank for the purpose of binding;

(d) include a table immediately below the title of the referendum, and beginning .5 inch from the left side of the paper, as follows:

(i) the first column shall be .5 inch wide and include three rows;

(ii) the first row of the first column shall be .85 inch tall and contain the words "For Office Use Only" in 10-point type;

(iii) the second row of the first column shall be .35 inch tall;

(iv) the third row of the first column shall be .5 inch tall;

(v) the second column shall be 2.75 inches wide;

(vi) the first row of the second column shall be .35 inch tall and contain the words "Registered Voter's Printed Name (must be legible to be counted)" in 10-point type;

(vii) the second row of the second column shall be .5 inch tall;

(viii) the third row of the second column shall be .35 inch tall and contain the words "Street Address, City, Zip Code" in 10-point type;

(ix) the fourth row of the second column shall be .5 inch tall;

(x) the third column shall be 2.75 inches wide;

(xi) the first row of the third column shall be .35 inch tall and contain the words "Signature of Registered Voter" in 10-point type;

(xii) the second row of the third column shall be .5 inch tall;

(xiii) the third row of the third column shall be .35 inch tall and contain the words "Email Address (optional, to receive additional information)" in 10-point type;

(xiv) the fourth row of the third column shall be .5 inch tall;

(xv) the fourth column shall be one inch wide;

(xvi) the first row of the fourth column shall be .35 inch tall and contain the words "Date Signed" in 10-point type;

(xvii) the second row of the fourth column shall be .5 inch tall;

(xviii) the third row of the fourth column shall be .35 inch tall and contain the words "Birth Date or Age (optional)" in 10-point type;

(xix) the fourth row of the third column shall be .5 inch tall; and

(xx) the fifth row of the entire table shall be the width of the entire table, .4 inch tall, and contain the following words "By signing this referendum petition, you are stating that you have read and understand the law that this referendum petition seeks to overturn." in 12-point type;

(e) the table described in Subsection (3)(d) shall be repeated, leaving sufficient room at the bottom of the sheet for the information described in Subsection (3)(f); and

(f) at the bottom of the sheet, include the word "Warning," in 12-point, bold type, followed by the following statement in not less than eight-point type:

"It is a class A misdemeanor for an individual to sign a referendum petition with a name other than the individual's own name, or to knowingly sign the individual's name more than once for the same referendum petition, or to sign a referendum petition when the individual knows that the individual is not a registered voter.

Birth date or age information is not required, but it may be used to verify your identity with voter registration records. If you choose not to provide it, your signature may not be verified as a valid signature if you change your address before petition signatures are verified or if the information you provide does not match your voter registration records."

(4) The final page of each referendum packet shall contain the following printed or typed statement:

Verification of signature collector

State of Utah, County of ____

I, _______________, of ____, hereby state, under penalty of perjury, that:

I am a Utah resident and am at least 18 years old;

All the names that appear in this referendum packet were signed by individuals who professed to be the individuals whose names appear in it, and each of the individuals signed the individual's name on it in my presence;

I did not knowingly make a misrepresentation of fact concerning the law this petition seeks to overturn;

I believe that each individual has printed and signed the individual's name and written the individual's post office address and residence correctly, that each signer has read and understands the law that the referendum seeks to overturn, and that each signer is registered to vote in Utah.

Each individual who signed the referendum packet wrote the correct date of signature next to the individual's name.

I have not paid or given anything of value to any individual who signed this referendum packet to encourage that individual to sign it.

________________________________________________________________________

(Name) (Residence Address) (Date).

(5) If the forms described in this section are substantially followed, the referendum petitions are sufficient, notwithstanding clerical and merely technical errors.

(6) An individual's status as a resident, under Subsection (4), is determined in accordance with Section 20A-2-105 .

History

Amended by Chapter 107 , 2023 General Session , § 24 , eff. 5/3/2023 .

Amended by Chapter 325 , 2022 General Session , § 18 , eff. 1/1/2023 .

Amended by Chapter 418 , 2021 General Session , § 22 , eff. 5/5/2021 , coordination clause.

Amended by Chapter 418 , 2021 General Session , § 7 , eff. 5/5/2021 .

Amended by Chapter 140 , 2021 General Session , § 17 , eff. 5/5/2021 .

Amended by Chapter 210 , 2019 General Session , § 9 , eff. 5/14/2019 .

Amended by Chapter 329 , 2014 General Session , § 2 , eff. 5/13/2014 .

Amended by Chapter 78 , 2007 General Session

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