Separately, a bill that would clarify the use of nicknames on the ballot failed.
(Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) Ballots are sorted at the Salt Lake County offices in Salt Lake City on Nov. 4, 2020. Utah state senators voted Thursday to make it harder for voters to switch parties.
| Feb. 26, 2021, 12:33 a.m.
The bill, which passed with a 19-6 vote, would prevent affiliation changes after March 31 in an election year. If a voter modified their registration after that date, it would not go into effect until after the primary election in June.
The effort comes after tens of thousands of Utah voters became Republicans ahead of last June’s primary election in order to cast a vote in the hotly-contested GOP primary for governor. And its practical effect would be to lock last-minute switchers out of those primaries, which allow only registered Republicans to cast a ballot.
Utah Senate poised to pass bill to block party raiding ahead of elections msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Utah Senate killed a bill Monday that blocked local governments from enacting many restrictions on outdoor advertising. Opponents said the bill gave too much power to billboard companies.
In 2019, when Tekulve Jackson-Vann told his supervisor at the Payson Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about his decision to wear his hair in locs, he was fired. “We’re asked to have our hair in a conservative style so it’s not a distraction to the patrons,” Jackson-Vann told a local network news reporter. “My first thought immediately was, ‘This is a moment this is a moment where I can help educate my brethren in the Gospel that there are standards which are not rooted in doctrine and that can be challenged.’”
Jackson-Vann was reinstated within 24 hours, but the incident prompted Utah state Sen. Derek Kitchen, D, to draft new legislation known as the CROWN Act, for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, which prohibits state employers and public schools from discriminating against Black residents for wearing natural hairstyles.