Critics worry bill targeting voting by noncitizens, a rarity, could disenfranchise some

SALT LAKE CITY — A measure that would add new safeguards to keep immigrants from voting and registering to vote is prompting concern from some who worry it could disenfranchise at least some voters.

HB209, approved by lawmakers late last week as the 2026 legislative session came to an end, now goes to Gov. Spencer Cox's desk for consideration. Amid the ongoing national crackdown on illegal immigration and concerns among some about the trustworthiness of U.S. elections, it's touted by backers as an extra precaution to make sure immigrants, whether in the country legally or not, don't cast ballots in U.S. elections.

The bill contains provisions requiring additional scrutiny of voter rolls and new steps elections officials are to follow to check voter records of those flagged for providing insufficient proof of citizenship.

Some, though, worry it could adversely impact the ability of at least some U.S. citizens to register and vote while further noting how rare it is that immigrants register, let alone vote. "That is our major concern. We think that making voting and registering to vote more difficult will just disenfranchise people. It will give people the idea that this is too difficult," said Katharine Biele, president of the League of Women Voters of Utah, active in vote-registration initiatives.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah is calling on Cox to veto the measure, worried it would have "a heightened impact" on seniors, youth, women and low-income and rural voters.

"HB209 is a sweeping, significant change to our voting laws that could prevent tens of thousands of Utahns from exercising their fundamental right to vote. When Kansas enacted a similar law, 31,000 eligible voters were prevented from voting, and the law was ultimately found to be an unconstitutional burden on voting rights," the ACLU said in an open letter to Cox, citing a 2024 AP news article on the Kansas measure.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, thinks the critics are exaggerating the potential adverse impacts. The measure would allow for "targeted review" by election of officials of voter registration records when there's reason to believe an applicant or someone who registered may not be a U.S. citizen. In such instances, election officials would send a notice to the voter in question, giving him or her time to correct any errors or omissions.

"The bill gives a lot of leeway to people who may need to show or find pieces that might be missing that show their U.S. citizenship," he said.

Utah law already makes it illegal for noncitizens to vote, Maloy acknowledged, but he sees the measure as an added layer of protection amid questioning by some, particularly on the right, about the reliability of the balloting process. "This bill is about tightening safeguards and public confidence, not responding to widespread fraud. Even rare or inadvertent registrations undermine trust in elections," he told KSL earlier.

In January, Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, the state's top election official, released preliminary results of a review of Utah's voter records, which show that the vast majority of those registered were confirmed to be U.S. citizens. Of the 2.07 million voter records her office reviewed, one was found to be a noncitizen. "That individual did not ever vote and was promptly removed," reads the Jan. 22 report.

Records were incomplete for another 486 people, and Henderson's office sent them letters asking them to update their registration records.

As described by Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman, the top election official for the county, election officials have various means to make sure voters and those registered to vote are U.S. citizens. They work with Utah Bureau of Motor Vehicle and U.S. Social Service Administration to cross-check records. More recently, the state entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to tap into its Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program.

"The nuance here is we will just be creating this bifurcated type of ballot for those that were not able to verify their eligibility status depending on their citizenship prior to the election," she said. That is, if state election officials can't confirm a would-be voter is a U.S. citizen, they'll forbid them from voting for state races but still provide them with a ballot to vote for federal contests since U.S. law, as written, doesn't contain a specific provision to prevent it,

Whatever the case, immigrants registering or trying to register to vote hasn't been a problem in her experience, Chapman said. Typically, the irregularities uncovered in reviewing voter registration records are "benign," perhaps a matter of transposed Social Security numbers in a registration document, which can be corrected.

She worries the measure could impact older voters who originally registered to vote before the process required that applicants supply the last four numbers of their driver's license numbers. As their records are flagged for additional review, she could foresee them having issues in being able to supply the required documentation if, for instance, they're in a nursing home and have limited mobility.

"I think this was maybe not needed. If it was needed, I think we needed to provide some convenient method for people to provide us with this documentation," she said.

The ACLU worries HB209 could inordinately impact lower-income voters, young people, seniors and others without the means to get a passport or copies of their passports, alternative means for those flagged to prove their U.S. citizenship.

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