The League of Women Voters of Utah 230 W. 200 South, Suite #2114 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 (801) 272-8683 Email: [email protected] http://www.lwvutah.org Follow us on ​Facebook​ & Twitter @LWVUtah January 2019 INSIDE: Election Trenches/p2-4 Join Us and Get Active in 2019 Vote411/p4-5 by Catherine Weller, LWVUT co-president What did you resolve to do in the new year? Since you’re League Legislative Preview/p4 members, I’m betting education and action figure in your goals. They certainly are part of mine. The League of Women Voters of Utah has a full San Juan votes/p5-6 slate planned so following up on those resolutions shouldn’t be difficult. Data Privacy/p6-7 The national League has been in meetings and on Capitol Hill helping shape the language in HR1. This piece of legislation is a comprehensive Pollution Pricing/p7-8 package of reforms aimed at issues the League has been fighting for decades, some since its inception. In the words of LWVUS President, Chris Legislative Action/p8-9 Carson, “The League of Women Voters is very excited at the prospect of ​ HR1 because it aims to include elements that align with many of the Davis Social/p9 League’s long-held positions, like election modernization and redistricting reform.” Ranked Choice/p10 Key pieces of the legislation include expanding automatic and online voter Weber/p10-11 registration, implementation of fair redistricting practices, elimination of voter roll purging, restoration of the Voting Rights Act and creation of a Ag Position/p11-12 public finance system for elections. The LWVUS blog addresses the main elements of HR1. You can read it here. ​ Civics Ed/p12 As you can see from the bill number, HR1 will be the first bill introduced in Refugees/p13 the 2019 session of the U.S. House of Representatives. You can and should act on this immediately by telling your representatives you’d like Legacy Campaign/p14 them to support HR1. When the bill moves to the Senate, reach out to your senators as well. On Saturday, January 19, I encourage you to not just march, but to run. The Utah Women’s March is that morning. The League doesn’t have 1 enough information at this time to determine League support of the march. Nevertheless I hope you all, as individual citizens, stand up and show your support of women’s issues. Real Women Run will conduct its popular Winter Training workshop on the 19th as well. This full-day event features workshops for everyone: current candidates and campaign managers, future candidates looking for information on where to start, and women who want to get more involved in public service. The number of women in 2019 Utah legislative session is at a historic high, 25 with seven of them newly elected. Of those seven women, six were Real Women Run participants. Make this the year you take your leadership to the next level. Visit their website here to sign up or get more information. Finally, the 2019 Utah State Legislature begins its session on Monday, January 28. The League was on the hill during the monthly interim Local League sessions. Now it’s time for us to join the fray for 45 days, observing Leadership hearings and votes, disseminating the information we learn, and testifying if necessary. There are plenty of opportunities to join the League’s Legislative Action Committee and assist in that process. You’ll read about them in this Davis County newsletter. I hope you’ll also watch your email inbox for Action Alerts. We Kathy Stockel send these notices during the session to let you know when the Legislature & Ann Johnson is considering policy that will affect League issues. davispresidents@lwvutah. org The key to the effectiveness of the Action Alerts, and everything the League does, is taking informed, thoughtful, and deliberate action. Whether you’re marching, running, observing or contacting an elected official, your Grand County action is essential. I truly believe an active and informed citizenry is the Darcey Brown best defense of democracy. Join me in the new year as I and League & Barb Lacy members throughout the state and nation empower voters and defend [email protected] democracy. g Salt Lake Working Election Trenches Gives Sense of Pride Kathy Biele Carole Straughn [email protected] by Tina Hose, LWVUT Leadership Consultant On the same day the Salt Lake County Clerk sent out half-a-million mail-in ballots to active, registered voters, I went to work as a full-time temporary Weber County Elections Office Specialist. As a cog in the election machinery before, Terri McCulloch during and after the recent midterm election, I had an insider’s view. On the weberpresident@lwvutah. last day I worked, and since then, I carry with me a sense of pride in the org Salt Lake County election process, confidence in its reliability, and a commitment to share what I had done, seen and learned. As Election Office Specialists, we worked with databases and provided voter information.The ballot handling and counting was done in a separate area, the Ballot Processing Center. The first few weeks of work for myself, and other Election Office Specialists, focused on creating and updating electronic voter records from voter registration campaigns, motor-voter 2 registrations, walk-in voter registrations and online registrations. In the creation and updating of those voter records, we electronically “captured” signatures and placed those inside the voter’s record. After the Ballot Processing Center had scanned in images of the signatures on ballot envelopes, we would compare the signatures to verify a match. The following weeks, we would associate all prior records with the latest Elections Office records to eliminate multiple registrations. This process also allowed staff to fulfill requests to send a ballot to a temporary address Utah League while the voter is living at another short-term location. I also learned that Leadership military personnel, and only military personnel, can receive their ballots online through a request on a federal website. Families sometimes Co-Presidents requested a ballot for an absent military member to forward, but requests Catherine Weller have to be made by the military person themselves. Ballots are sent to the & Vickie Samuelson email address of the requesting military person. [email protected] While doing daily updating of voter records, we also began taking calls from Executive Director voters, many who were concerned about the status of their mail-in ballot. Emeritus Because the voter information was also updated by the Ballot Processing Sandy Peck Center, we could access a caller’s individual voter data and tell them the [email protected] date their ballot was sent, the address to which it was mailed, the date the ballot was received back, and the ballot status (if counted). A sample of Voter Editors calls received and responses given illustrates the wide range of voter Charles Bernard & Amy questions and voter services: McCarty [email protected] “What’s going to be on my ballot?” Voters were referred to www.got.vote.org for sample ballot. Elections staff Office Manager could also file an electronic request to mail the voter a hard copy of the Trixi Sieger State’s Voter Information Pamphlet. [email protected] “​I’ve moved to a Senior home and have voted in every election since Franklin Delano Roosevelt and I am not going to miss this one. Can I get my ballot sent here?” Yes. The ballot sent to her home was “spoiled” (cancelled), and a new mail-in ballot was generated and sent to her new residence. Two weeks later the database indicated that her ballot had been mailed back and counted. “Wow, I don’t think my signature is exactly the same as last time I voted — how does that work?” Staff is trained to look for signature similarities. Questionable signatures are sent on for review by at least four other election workers. If questions remain, the voter is contacted by text and/or phone to sign an affidavit verifying that the signature is theirs. “Do I have to fill in circle by circle if I want to vote for a candidate outside of my straight ticket preference?​” Voting circles filled in for candidates outside of a straight party vote are counted as indicated. 3 “My return ballot envelope has water stains and is ripped; it’s wrecked. Now what do I do?” If a ballot envelope was still usable, the voter could tape it and send. Voters could also get a replacement envelope at any Early Voting Location or Voting Center. Much to Learn at Legislative “It doesn’t look like my local grade school is going to be my place to vote. Preview Where do I go?” Depending on date of call, Early Voting locations were provided as an The annual Legislative option, as well as the location of 43 Election Day Vote Centers. Callers Forum sponsored by the were pleased and surprised to learn they could receive a ballot associated AAUW and the LWVSL with their residential address and vote at ANY Vote Center throughout Salt will be held on Saturday, Lake County. January 12 at 9 a.m. at “I like to vote in person on Election Day. Can I just take my mail-in ballot to the Girl Scout office, 445 the polls?” E. 4500 South. Light Yes. You can go right up to the front of the line and drop off your filled out, refreshments will be signed and sealed mail-in ballot at any Voting Center. served and the panel will begin at 9:30.