Utah senators criticize secretary of state proposal before blocking it

SALT LAKE CITY — A proposal to establish a secretary of state in Utah to oversee elections hit a strong wall of opposition on Monday, likely dooming it from moving any further in the waning days of the legislative session.

HB529, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, proposed shifting election duties from the lieutenant governor's office to a new secretary of state. Shepherd said it would help avoid conflicts of interest and wasn't meant to target Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson.

But even though the bill previously passed out of the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee voted 6-1 on Monday to table it, effectively halting its progress in the final week of the session.

"I don't think this policy is conservative in any way," said Senate Minority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, noting that it doesn't change the election process at all. "It doesn't fix the conflict of interest, and it certainly doesn't enhance transparency."

Over the last several years, Henderson has defended her office's role in overseeing elections, while noting that each county is ultimately responsible for running them. Lieutenant governors have typically appointed special advisers to oversee elections when they are on the ballot themselves.

Henderson has also repeatedly spoken out against election misinformation and intimidation of election workers.

"I actually think the lieutenant governor has done a damn good job and faced a lot of hostility that was unfair," McKell said.

Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, said creating a new secretary of state position is a "really bad idea."

"The folks that I represent actually feel very strongly that our elections here in Utah are safe and secure," he said, "and I think they actually feel that way because we have a lieutenant governor who has stood up to some of the disturbing influences coming from the outside, that has been able to resist some of the politics of this."

Utah is one of only a handful of states with a lieutenant governor to oversee elections. It's not a new idea to have a secretary of state in Utah — the state had one for the first several decades of existence before creating the lieutenant governor position in the 1970s.

Speaking to reporters after the bill failed on Monday, two top Senate Republicans questioned whether a secretary of state would actually reduce the potential for a conflict of interest or simply move it around.

"I've always wondered what problem we're trying to fix that we already haven't fixed," said Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton.

If the bill passed, he added, "now we have an office that we have to fund that is doing exactly what we're going to do, and we have the same problems that we're going to have to fix there as we've already fixed in the lieutenant governor's office, which is a separation when that position runs for the ballot."

Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, questioned if a separate secretary of state position would be worth the extra money needed to staff a new state office.

"Then you create another position with additional staff and you grow government," he said. "Is that new assignment significant enough to justify that position and staff?"

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