Utah bill requiring ID for ballot drop boxes clears committee
- Rosalba Dominguez
- Feb 26
- 2 min read
Updated: May 6
SALT LAKE CITY – A new bill focused on voter identification at the polls moved forward with an 8-3 committee vote on Wednesday, and a second draft was introduced to the House on Thursday.
The bill, HB0479, would extend beyond Election Day, requiring a form of valid ID to drop off a mail-in ballot, which means poll workers would need to be present.
Rep. Nicholeen Peck, R-Tooele, voted yes for the bill to be introduced to the House.
“The people really want security in their elections,” Peck said. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Yeah, we already ID people when they come into vote – it’s a normal practice.”
But HB0479 would demand two poll workers guarding each drop box and limited hours to return ballots. Lawmakers had questions surrounding what it would cost to pay poll workers to guard drop boxes, and if limited hours would hurt voter turnout.
Lawmakers who voted no said they are worried the legislation would take Utah’s successful voter turnout and flatten it.
“We have a huge industry of those who work at night, and they will be limited to when they can return their ballots,” said Rep. Rosalba Dominguez, D-Murray.
Dominguez said the bill suppresses people like “women, people with disabilities, even our elders.”
The push for ID at mail-in ballot drop boxes comes after Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson released a data review of non-citizens voting in elections. The findings showed only one ineligible person in the entire state who registered, but never cast a ballot.
“I honestly don’t see the necessity of changing our voting law now,” Dominguez said.
The House didn’t vote on the bill on Thursday, but if it passes there and in the Senate, it wouldn’t take effect until 2029.
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