Cathy McKitrick reports:
Legislation that melded two bills together to install protections to the state’s voter registration database unanimously passed the House and Senate Thursday night and now awaits the governor’s signature.
“We wrapped these bills together with a compromise,” said Rep. Becky Edwards, R-North Salt Lake, sponsor of HB302. While her measure did not pass, some key portions were folded into SB36 sponsored by Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City in the 45-day session’s waning hours.
“This is the bill we’ve been talking about all session long,” said Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry. He and other lawmakers got an earful from constituents when they discovered their voting information — name, address, birthdate, party affiliation and frequency of voting — had been published online for commercial gain.
Without SB36, anyone could purchase that database from the state Elections Office for $1,050 — minus Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and email addresses.
Read more on Standard-Examiner. The Utah Media Coalition is not happy with the bill, as McKitrick explains in her reporting.