20A-7-306.3 - Verification of petition signatures. - Utah Statutes

20A-7-306.3. Verification of petition signatures.
(1) (a) For the purposes of this section, "substantially similar name" means:
(i) the given name and surname shown on the petition, or both, contain only minorspelling differences when compared to the given name and surname shown on the officialregister;
(ii) the surname shown on the petition exactly matches the surname shown on the officialregister, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown is a commonlyused abbreviation or variation of the other;
(iii) the surname shown on the petition exactly matches the surname shown on theofficial register, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown isaccompanied by a first or middle initial or a middle name which is not shown on the otherrecord; or
(iv) the surname shown on the petition exactly matches the surname shown on theofficial register, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown is analphabetically corresponding initial that has been provided in the place of a given name shown onthe other record.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "substantially similar name" does not mean a namehaving an initial or a middle name shown on the petition that does not match a different initial ormiddle name shown on the official register.
(2) The county clerk shall use the following procedures in determining whether or not asigner is a registered voter:
(a) When a signer's name and address shown on the petition exactly match a name andaddress shown on the official register, the county clerk shall declare the signature valid.
(b) When there is no exact match of an address and a name, the county clerk shall declarethe signature valid if the address on the petition matches the address of a person on the officialregister with a substantially similar name.
(c) When there is no match of an address and a substantially similar name, the countyclerk shall declare the signature valid if the birth date or age on the petition matches the birthdate or age of a person on the official register with a substantially similar name.
(d) If a signature is not declared valid under Subsection (2)(a), (b), or (c), the countyclerk shall declare the signature to be invalid.

Enacted by Chapter 78, 2007 General Session