SALT LAKE CITY — If you plan to switch parties to vote in the upcoming primary for Utah's 2nd Congressional District, you have a very close deadline.
The deadline is immediately after Governor Cox signs the bill for the special election from the special session of the Utah State Legislature, which is Wednesday. Voters who want to go from being say, a registered Democrat to a registered Republican to vote in that party's primary will then be cut off.
"If you’re unaffiliated, you can affiliate with a party at any point in time. It’s only if you’re already affiliated, that you can’t switch," said Rep. Calvin Musselman, R-West Haven, the sponsor of the special election bill.
Rep. Musselman said that based on the deadlines already in statute, the technical deadline was Monday. But because of the rapid pace of the special election, the legislature is modifying it to allow a little extra time.
The Utah GOP has a closed primary, so only registered Republicans can vote in it. The Utah Democratic Party has an open primary, but people cannot vote in both.
HB2001 sets the special election dates — Sept. 5 for the primary election (the day after Labor Day) and Nov. 21 for the general election.
The bill also:
- Allows postmarking of mail-in ballots on primary election day only.
- Counties will run the elections instead of cities, even though it is primarily a municipal election year (with the exception of those in the 2nd Congressional District).
- Appropriates $2.5 million to help run the elections.
The special election is taking place because Rep. Chris Stewart is resigning from Congress, effective Sept. 15 because his wife is dealing with an undisclosed health issue.
