‘Never seen anything like it’: Thousands of Utahns want their names removed from Prop 4 repeal

SALT LAKE CITY — With just days left to collect signatures in the effort to repeal Proposition 4, county clerks have received more than 2,300 requests from people asking for their signatures to be removed.

The majority of those requests have been submitted in Salt Lake County, which has received more than 1,200 to date, an unprecedented sum compared with previous signature-gathering efforts in the county. More than 85,000 signatures have been verified statewide, according to state data.

“This is the first time in Salt Lake County that we’ve seen such a large demand to actually have people’s names taken off of the petition packets,” county Clerk Lannie Chapman told KSL.

Salt Lake County always receives rescission requests during county or statewide initiatives and referenda, but this year has been on a different scale, the clerk said. During last year’s effort to repeal HB267, a bill banning public unions from collective bargaining, more than 320,000 signatures were turned in statewide.

Chapman’s office received only 12 requests for signature removal during that referendum, a “huge contrast compared to this.”

“We’ve never seen anything like this in Salt Lake County,” she said.

Comparing this year’s request volume with that from past initiatives is not straightforward, as the state election office doesn’t track rescission requests, and some clerk’s offices lack data for prior years. After reaching out to all 29 county clerks, KSL estimates that more than 2,300 removal requests have been filed to date.

 

While Salt Lake County was a clear outlier, Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson told KSL last week that his office has seen more requests for removal as well.

“It’s probably a little bit higher than normal,” he said. “But statistically, it’s still a very small number compared to all the signatures.”

Rob Axson, the Utah Republican Party chairman and head of Utahns for Representative Government, the group organizing the effort to repeal Proposition 4, said the removal requests are thanks in part to a coordinated effort in opposition to the initiative. He urged Utahns who have signed to keep their names on the list in hopes that the question will be put to the voters this November.

“All we’re doing is putting it on the ballot that then the people get to decide,” Axson told KSL. “This is the very process that this government, our country, was founded on — this idea of the citizens being engaged in this deliberative process.”

“Let’s let our neighbors, let’s let all of us, collectively as Utahns, weigh this issue and think about it over the course of the year,” he added, “and then we can decide and vote according to our decisions and conscience when it comes up in November.”

Organizers hoping to undo Proposition 4 — an anti-gerrymandering law narrowly approved by voters in 2018 — are running out of time to collect the 141,000 signatures required to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

The repeal effort has received support from President Donald Trump, and his son, Donald Trump Jr., released a video last week with Hunter Nation, urging Utahns to sign.

Turning Point Action, the political arm of Turning Point U.S.A., founded by the late Charlie Kirk, is hosting a pair of signing events in Centerville on Saturday and Ogden on Sunday.

“We take nothing for granted,” Axson said. “This is a very heavy lift. The barrier to cross in Utah to begin an initiative — especially now — it’s more difficult and more onerous than it’s been in years past.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox also urged people to support the repeal effort in a text sent to some registered voters on Friday.

“I encourage you to sign the petition to place this on the ballot to determine the will of the people,” he said. “Efforts to discourage signatures or remove names from the petition undermine public participation in a process that should belong to all of us.”

Better Boundaries, the group behind Proposition 4, launched a campaign earlier this month to encourage voters to remove their names from the petition after KSL reported misleading claims by petition gatherers.

“We at Better Boundaries believe voters deserve transparency and honesty in the democratic process,” Elizabeth Rasmussen, the executive director, said in a statement at the time. “When Utahns passed Proposition 4 in 2018, they were clear about what they wanted. Utahns should know exactly what they’re signing, and if a repeal effort can’t win on the facts, it shouldn’t try to win through misleading petition practices.”

Utah County also flagged several signature packets as potentially fraudulent, after several gatherers were reported by Utahns for Representative Government. Axson previously attributed those cases and some misleading statements to a few “bad actors” and said “the vast majority are good people who are going about this process appropriately.”

Gatherers have also reported being assaulted or having their signature packets stolen, according to police reports.

KSL has continued to receive and investigate tips about misleading statements made by signature gatherers.

Footage from a front door camera provided to KSL by a homeowner shows a signature gatherer explaining the petition to the homeowner’s mother in late January.

“Historically, the redistricting of the maps was done by your representatives, who you elect and hold accountable,” the canvasser explained. “And we got rid of that and moved it to a separate party, who then give it to a judge and that person decides.”

The woman is seen signing the petition immediately. The signature gatherer didn’t ensure the woman had a chance to read the initiative before signing, as is required by law.

The homeowner, who was not present for the interaction, told KSL his mother had previously voted in favor of Proposition 4, but she has an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and gets confused. He said that after they spoke, she wanted to remove her name from the petition.

Emily O’Connor delivered a request to have her name removed from the petition to the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office on Wednesday. She said she signed the petition while out shopping in Bountiful. O’Connor said she later watched a news report about some signature gatherers sharing misinformation to get people to sign and decided she wanted to remove her name.

“I probably should have read that more, but when it’s like 20 degrees outside, and they’re putting stuff in your face, you’re like, ‘Yeah, I want to help this person,'” she said. “But knowing after the fact that it was deceptive, (I) don’t feel great about it.”

Utahns who would like to sign the petition to overturn Proposition 4 can find gathering locations throughout the state at ufrg.org/calendar. Information about removing a name from a petition can be found at protectutahvoters.com.

Contributing: Emiley Dewey