Election officials explain why Utah voter information is becoming public

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office is seeking to clarify confusion about a new law that makes the voter information of most Utahns public.

SB153, which Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law last month, automatically classifies that information — such as name, address, party affiliation and voter status — as public unless a voter qualifies as “at-risk.”

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An at-risk voter under the law is someone who is the victim of domestic or dating violence, a law enforcement officer, a member of the military, a public figure who has received threats, or someone protected by a court order.

“We’re not releasing date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, all those things,” said Shelly Jackson, deputy director of elections.

Jackson said her office has also heard frequent concerns that the law will reveal who individuals voted for, but she said “that’s not true.” However, the public data will include which elections voters participated in and whether they cast their vote by mail or in person.

Utah law previously let voters classify their information as either public, private or withheld. Voters could opt for a private registration for any reason, but now those private and withheld voters have received letters telling them they can request to be listed as an at-risk voter — if they qualify. If they don’t, their voter information will become public next month.

Those voters have until May 6 to submit a form to their county clerk. For more information, visit the state elections website.

How can this information be used?

The new law doesn’t mean voter information will be easily accessible to everyone. Those who want to access the statewide voter rolls must pay a $1,050 fee to the elections office. Those accessing it must protect the data, meaning they can’t publish it online or on social media. If they do, they could face a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

Officials say voter registration information is typically used by political parties and campaigns to identify likely voters. According to the latest data from the lieutenant governor’s office, just over 1 million Utahns had private voter records, about 1 million were public, and 295,000 were withheld.

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Jackson and other officials met with reporters Tuesday to answer questions about the new law and dispel misinformation about it. She said the elections office has received calls from Utahns worried about remaining a registered voter.

“We have unfortunately had people who are just nervous about what this law means, and they have called us from a county clerk’s office … and have expressed their intention to unregister to vote,” Jackson said.

She called that “an unfortunate side effect” of the new law.

Where did this law come from?

SB153 was passed earlier this year on mostly party lines, though a handful of Democrats voted in favor while two Republican senators opposed it.

Sen. John Johnson, R-North Ogden, told a Senate committee in January that Utah’s previous voter privacy law “conflicts with federal law and exposes the state to ongoing litigation risk.” He cited the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which requires that voter registration records be made available for inspection.

“What this actually does is it just tightens the requirements for withholding your information so you actually have to show that you have cause for doing that,” Johnson said, adding that it also gives protection for those facing safety risks. “This protection is not discretionary. County clerks must grant it to qualifying individuals.”

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Voter records in Utah have been a subject of recent political scrutiny, stemming in part from claims made by former state Rep. Phil Lyman about the state’s election system.

Lyman, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2024, has long cast doubt on elections in the state and sued last summer seeking access to the complete voter rolls. His lawsuit was rejected in January after a judge said he lacked standing to bring the case, but Lyman — who is now running for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District — said he would appeal.

The U.S. Department of Justice has also sued Utah in an effort to obtain the complete voter registration list — including sensitive voter information — but Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson has maintained the feds are not entitled to that information. She has instead offered the publicly available list.

Election officials say the changes to voter privacy don’t have anything to do with efforts by the Trump administration to access voter data, and they reiterate that sensitive personal information will not be made public.