Utah lawmakers take first step towards taking elections responsibilities from the lieutenant governor
Feb 24, 2026, 2:18 PM | Updated: Feb 25, 2026, 7:28 am
FILE - Flags fly at the Utah State Capitol, Jan. 18, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (Sydney Schaefer, AP Photo, File)
(Sydney Schaefer, AP Photo, File)
SALT LAKE CITY — A committee of Utah lawmakers gave the first thumbs up to a proposal to strip the lieutenant governor of the responsibility to oversee Utah’s elections.
State Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, proposed both a bill and a joint resolution to create a secretary of state, and they would become Utah’s chief election officer instead of the lieutenant governor.
As the two pieces of legislation are currently written, the secretary of state would be a partisan position, and the candidate would be elected every two years.
Shepherd told lawmakers in the House Government Operations Committee Wednesday she believes the current setup creates a conflict of interest, because the lieutenant governor has to oversee elections they’re running in themselves.
“It’s not about the current lieutenant governor,” Shepherd said. “It is… about that structural problem. And you cannot fix that structural problem with the person who does elections being the subordinate officer to the governor.”
At one point in the hearing Rep. Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, asked Shepherd if the secretary of state could also face a conflict of interest, given they would also be elected by voters.
Shepherd replied, “They could, but they would not be directly under the top executive.”
“That’s like asking our vice president of the United States to be over elections,” Shepherd said.
The committee voted to pass both the bill and the resolution, with Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, being the only ‘no’ vote. Stoddard did not voice opposition to what the bill was setting out to accomplish, but he said he’s rather take more time to study the issue before moving forward with a potential solution.
The bill and resolution both still need approval from the House, Senate and the governor to move forward. The resolution however, would need 2/3 majority approval in both the House and Senate since creating a secretary of state would require an amendment to the Utah constitution.
And if that happens, as with any constitutional amendment, Utah voters would have the final say on whether it becomes a reality.
As the resolution is currently written, if the Legislature, the governor and voters vote yes to this idea, voters would decide the state’s next secretary of state in the 2028 general election.
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