Testimony for the Utah Senate Business and Labor Committee in Support of UT HB 300, Voter ID and Mail-in Voting
Testimony from:
Dr. Jonathan Madison, Governance Fellow, R Street Institute
Testimony in Support of UT HB 300, “AN ACT to amend provisions relating to voting at an election.”
March 03, 2025
Utah Senate Business and Labor Committee
Chairman Vickers and members of the committee:
My name is Dr. Jonathan Madison, and I am a Governance Fellow at the R Street Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization. Our mission is to engage in policy analysis and outreach to promote free markets, and limited, effective government in many areas, including election administration. This is why we have an interest in House Bill 300.
In the House Committee, I delivered testimony in opposition to the bill because of its unnecessary harms to Utah’s vote by mail system. We commend the Legislature for amending HB 300 to preserve vote-by-mail options for Utahns, allowing voters to continue returning their ballots by mail when they provide their driver’s license or state ID number. This change respects voter preferences for mail-in voting while honoring the public’s support for voter ID measures.[1]
The bill can be further improved in two key areas:
Currently, the bill requires voters to include the last four digits of their Utah driver’s license or state ID number on the return envelope of their mail-in ballot. To accommodate voters who may not possess these specific forms of identification, we recommend expanding the acceptable ID numbers to include alternative valid forms of ID such as a passport. This expansion would ensure that all eligible voters have the means to verify their identity without unnecessary barriers.
The bill proposes that voters must opt in every eight years to continue receiving mail-in ballots. This change could lead to decreased participation due to administrative oversights or misunderstandings. Maintaining the current practice of automatically mailing ballots to registered voters has contributed to Utah’s high voter turnout and engagement.[2] We suggest preserving this system to ensure that voting remains accessible and convenient for all eligible voters.
While we hope you will consider these revisions, the amended version of HB 300 is a strong compromise bill that respects the wishes of Utahns concerning both voting by mail and voter ID. For these reasons, we encourage favorable consideration of HB 300.
Thank you,
Dr. Jonathan Madison
Governance Fellow
R Street Institute
385-500-7537
jmadison@rstreet.org
[1] Derek Monson, “Election Reform and Public Trust: What Utah Voters Think about Proposed Election Reforms,” Sutherland Institute, January 2025, https://sutherlandinstitute.org/publications/election-reform-and-public-trust/.
[2] Deseret News Editorial Board, “Don’t ‘Fix’ a Utah Election System That Isn’t Broken,” Deseret News, November 20, 2024, https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2024/11/20/keep-utahs-vote-by-mail-system/.