(1) As used in this section:

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Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-3a-401.5

  • Ballot: means the storage medium, including a paper, mechanical, or electronic storage medium, that records an individual voter's vote. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
  • Election: means a regular general election, a municipal general election, a statewide special election, a local special election, a regular primary election, a municipal primary election, and a special district election. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
  • Manual ballot: means a paper document produced by an election officer on which an individual records an individual's vote by directly placing a mark on the paper document using a pen or other marking instrument. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
  • Voter: means an individual who:
         (79)(a) meets the requirements for voting in an election;
         (79)(b) meets the requirements of election registration;
         (79)(c) is registered to vote; and
         (79)(d) is listed in the official register book. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
     (1)(a) “Ballot tracking system” means the system described in this section to track and confirm the status of trackable ballots.
     (1)(b) “Change in the status” includes:

          (1)(b)(i) when a trackable ballot is mailed to a voter;
          (1)(b)(ii) when an election official receives a voted trackable ballot; and
          (1)(b)(iii) when a voted trackable ballot is counted.
     (1)(c) “Trackable ballot” means a manual ballot that is:

          (1)(c)(i) mailed to a voter in accordance with Section 20A-3a-202;
          (1)(c)(ii) deposited in the mail by a voter in accordance with Section 20A-3a-204; or
          (1)(c)(iii) deposited in a ballot drop box by a voter in accordance with Section 20A-3a-204.
     (1)(d) “Voter registration database” means the database, as defined in Section 20A-2-501.
(2) The lieutenant governor shall operate and maintain a statewide or locally based system to track and confirm when there is a change in the status of a trackable ballot.
(3) If a voter elects to receive electronic notifications regarding the status of the voter’s trackable ballot, the ballot tracking system shall, when there is a change in the status of the voter’s trackable ballot:

     (3)(a) send a text message notification to the voter if the voter’s information in the voter registration database includes a mobile telephone number;
     (3)(b) send an email notification to the voter if the voter’s information in the voter registration database includes an email address; and
     (3)(c) send a notification by another electronic means directed by the lieutenant governor.
(4) The lieutenant governor shall ensure that the ballot tracking system and the state-provided website described in Section 20A-7-801 automatically share appropriate information to ensure that a voter is able to confirm the status of the voter’s trackable ballot via the state-provided website free of charge.
(5) The ballot tracking system shall include a toll-free telephone number or other offline method by which a voter can confirm the status of the voter’s trackable ballot.
(6) The lieutenant governor shall ensure that the ballot tracking system:

     (6)(a) is secure from unauthorized use by employing data encryption or other security measures; and
     (6)(b) is only used for the purposes described in this section.