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SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, has in three days gathered the 2,000 signatures he needs to get on the Republican primary election ballot this year under a controversial new state law.
A team he paid $8,000 — $4 per signature — walked through neighborhoods in his district armed with a sophisticated app that identified homes where registered Republicans live. He was the first candidate Thursday to turn in his petitions to the lieutenant governor's office, which oversees state elections.
Candidates began collecting signatures this week under SB54, the law passed two years ago that provides an alternate path to the primary ballot outside Utah's unique caucus and convention system.
As of Thursday, 64 candidates — 62 Republicans and two Democrats — had declared their intentions to collect signatures, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams.
But Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans this week told the lieutenant governor's office that neither it nor county clerks can legally process the signatures until the party certifies the signers' membership, something it doesn't intend to do until the March 1 deadline the law allows.
"We're not lifting a finger beyond the letter of the law with respect to SB54," he said.
A letter Evans sent to the Republican State Central Committee suggests that it's possible people who sign the petitions as registered Republicans now might not be party members in March, leaving candidates like Weiler short of the number of signatures needed to get on the ballot.
The Utah Republican Party sued the state over SB54, resulting in a federal judge striking down the provision requiring political parties to hold open primary elections.
The claim is the latest in the ongoing dispute over the new election law, and one with which the state disagrees.
"We will begin the process of reviewing those signatures," said Mark Thomas, deputy lieutenant governor and state elections director. "As we interpret the statute, it's clear to us that if the person is registered and affiliated with the Republican Party, and meets those other qualifications, their signatures will be counted."
Evans went so far as to threaten more legal action if the state continues to process the petitions.
"If the lieutenant governor chooses not follow the law, we might have to file an injunction," he said.
The Utah Republican Party sued the state over SB54, resulting in a federal judge striking down the provision requiring political parties to hold open primary elections. The judge let the remainder of the law stand.
Because the Utah GOP intends to keep its primary election closed, GOP candidates may only gather signatures from registered Republicans.
Weiler said Evans' letter left him the impression that signing the petition could spell trouble for rank-and-file party members, numbering more than 600,000.
"When I read it, I thought he was clearly keeping open the option of disfellowshipping Republicans who sign petitions, but he has said publicly that isn't the case," Weiler said. "But I don't know how else to decipher that letter."
Evans said some GOP officeholders are perpetuating a false narrative.
"Categorically, that is fiction," he said. "I don't think anyone who is a registered Republican should be in fear."
Evans wouldn't say how the party would verify the more than 600,000 Utahns who have registered as Republicans, saying it's "immaterial" and "doesn't matter." The law, he said, calls for the party to certify its membership, and the elections office has to wait for that.
Weiler estimated that if the party spent one minute on every registered Republican, it would take 10,000 hours to verify the list.
"That's not going to happen," he said. "That's a silly argument."
The law allows candidates who choose the petition route to also seek the nomination at party conventions, although the Utah GOP has disputed that as well.
Both sides plan to ask the Utah Supreme Court to settle an ongoing disagreement over whether the choice to gather signatures, go through the convention or both lies with the candidate as the state says or the party as the Republican Party claims.
Weiler, who intends to use both tracks, said he has yet to hear from a constituent who was upset or offended that he was collecting signatures.
"I think this petition gathering process is wonderful for the Republican Party. We're going out. We're engaging the average voter on the street. We're getting them involved. We're educating them on the new law," he said.
Lee, who is seeking a second term in the U.S. Senate, said he will use both paths.
"We are at a point now where rulings have been issued and the election cycle is set to begin," he said last month. "I have instructed my campaign team to move forward to execute strategies to successfully compete in the caucus-and-convention system while also gathering the necessary signatures to get on the ballot.
