1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

Oppose HB 479 - Protects My Right to Vote as a Married Person I am writing to urge you to vote no on House Bill 479 when it comes before the House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday, February 24th at 8:00 a.m. This legislation would effectively eliminate my ability to vote. When I married and changed my name, I never anticipated it would become a barrier to exercising my constitutional right. HB 479 would require me to show photo ID and return my ballot in person during the week before November elections. My identification documents reflect my name change, but my signature has never been the same since. What was once a consistent signature is now an unrecognizable squiggle that looks different every time I sign. My husband faces the same issue with his illegible and inconsistent signature. Under this bill's strict ID verification requirements at drop boxes, our signatures will inevitably be flagged as mismatches. Beyond the signature problem, HB 479 ends vote-by-mail as currently practiced in Utah. My husband and I cannot physically get to a precinct or stand in line for hours. The bill would create exactly those conditions by forcing most voters to return ballots in person with ID verification, inevitably creating long lines. The complex drop box hours, requiring staffing by at least two people and preventing me from even returning my spouse's ballot, make voting nearly impossible for people in our situation. The Lieutenant Governor recently released an audit showing no evidence of non-citizens casting ballots in Utah. Our elections are already safe and secure. This bill solves a problem that does not exist while creating a $10 million unfunded mandate for counties and providing zero funding for public education about these drastic changes. HB 479 does not protect election integrity. It cancels my right to vote and the rights of countless elderly voters, disabled voters, rural voters, and working parents across Utah. I urge you to vote no.