Utah lawmaker seeks to make changes to political advertisement restrictions
Feb 5, 2025, 8:08 PM | Updated: Feb 6, 2025, 1:08 pm
House Democratic Assistant Whip Sahara Hayes speaks as members of the Utah House Democratic Caucus talk about their priorities during the legislative session as part of a press conference held at the state in Salt Lake City on the first day of the legislative session on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Isaac Hale/Deseret News)
(Isaac Hale/Deseret News)
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the type of misdemeanor.
SALT LAKE CITY —— A new bill, HB335, seeks to make changes to political advertisement restrictions. Bill sponsor Rep. Sahara Hayes, D-Salt Lake, said the bill applies specifically to political advertisements on social media.
“Paid for by” disclaimers on political advertisements
A lot of campaigns nowadays use digital marketing strategies through social media and text messages to reach more people. Hayes said that when it came to social media, some political advertisements didn’t have a “paid for by” disclaimer.
“When I was running, I noticed that there were some instances of candidates not including that ‘paid for by’ line and it [caused] a bit of confusion. So I looked into our election code and that actually isn’t stipulated. So this seems like a good time to update that code because social media marketing is becoming more and more prevalent.”
There are typically two spots where this disclaimer is placed: in the text over the screen and part of the caption. Not all political advertisements require this as it only applies to those that are promoted via paid advertising.
“If I’m exchanging money in order to enhance my own candidacy or disparage an opponent, that’s when it needs to be disclosed,” said Hayes.
What happens if this is violated?
The bill authorizes the lieutenant governor to impose a $1,000 fine for federal and state offices if anyone violates certain provisions. For county offices, the bill authorizes a county clerk or municipal clerk to impose a $500 fine.
Hayes said when she brought this bill to the lieutenant governor’s office, they reacted warmly to it.
“And then they actually suggested that we include this language because, before, it defaulted to a Class B misdemeanor for violating any election law. So if you didn’t disclose who paid for a billboard or something like that, it would just automatically be a Class B misdemeanor, which doesn’t allow them much nuance,” she said. “So this language was developed directly with the lieutenant governor’s office.”
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