Signature verification for collective bargaining referendum is complete

Vote Utah announced Thursday that signature verification for the HB267 referendum had been completed by state elections officials.

At the end of the verification process, conducted under direction of the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office, 251,590 signatures had been verified and 73,136 signatures had been rejected.

There are a number of reasons why signatures may not get certified: signers may not be registered to vote, they may have written their address wrong, filled out the form incorrectly or their handwriting may be illegible.

The number of verified signatures is far above the number required to certify a referendum and get it on the ballot. The required number of verified signatures is 140,748, a benchmark which officials say was reached on April 28.

County clerk offices across the state participated in the signature verification. The Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office verified signatures from over 115,000 registered voters in Salt Lake County, as well as an additional 20,000 signatures of registered voters from other Utah counties, according to a release from the Salt Lake County Clerk.

After the deadline to turn in signatures on April 16, and county clerks offices had 21 days to verify the signatures. That deadline was Wednesday.

Background on the HB267 referendum

HB267 was passed by the state Legislature in February and was one of the first bills signed by Gov. Spencer Cox. Shortly after the legislative session ended, the Protect Utah Workers coalition launched a signature-gathering effort to certify a referendum to repeal the law.

On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson issued a temporary stay of the law which was supposed to go into effect on July 1.

Under the temporary stay, the ban on public sector collective bargaining will stay paused until the lieutenant governor declares the referendum petition insufficient or the governor issues a proclamation putting the law into effect.

The law prohibits public sector collective bargaining, which is when a union acts as the sole collective bargaining agent for public employees with their employers.