Utah Code § 20A-4-202 — Utah Code / Title 20A / Chapter 20A-4 / § 20A-4-202
§ 20A-4-202. Election returns and election material -- Retention and disposition requirements -- Public records.
Status: in_force

(1) Upon receipt of the ballots and election returns from the poll workers, the election officer shall: (a) ensure that the poll workers have provided all of the ballots and election returns; (b) inspect the ballots and election returns to ensure that they are sealed; (c) for manual ballots, deposit and lock the ballots and election returns in a safe and secure place; (d) for mechanical ballots: (i) count the ballots; and (ii) deposit and lock the ballots and election returns in a safe and secure place; and (e) for bond elections, provide a copy of the election results to the board of canvassers of the local political subdivision that called the bond election. (2) Each election officer shall: (a) before 5 p.m. on the day after the date of the election, determine the number of provisional ballots cast within the election officer's jurisdiction and make that number available to the public; (b) preserve ballots for 22 months after the date of the election or until the time has expired during which the ballots could be used in an election contest; (c) preserve all other official election returns for at least 22 months after the date of the election; and (d) after the time period described in Subsection (2)(c), destroy the ballots and election returns without examining the ballots and election returns. (3) (a) The election officer shall: (i) package and retain all election material; and (ii) store the election material in a secure location. (b) The election officer: (i) may not alter or make changes to the election material; (ii) may make a working copy of the election material; (iii) may alter or make changes to the working copy of election material; (iv) shall preserve the election material, and any working copy of the election material, for at least 22 months after the date of the election; and (v) after the time period described in Subsection (3)(b)(iv), may dispose of or retain the election material and any working copy of the election material. (c) An election officer: (i) may not release to a member of the public: (A) the copy of the final election results database; or (B) a working copy of the copy of the final election results database; (ii) may issue a public report based on information derived from the election material if the report does not contain any information that directly identifies a voter who cast a ballot; (iii) may only access the election material, or a working copy of the election material, at the election officer's office; and (iv) may not remove the election material, or a working copy of the election material, from the election officer's office. (4) (a) If an election is contested within 12 months after the date of the election, the election officer shall, except as provided in Subsection (4)(c): (i) keep the ballots and election returns unopened and unaltered until the contest is complete; or (ii) surrender the ballots and election returns to the custody of the court having jurisdiction of the contest when ordered or subpoenaed to do so by that court. (b) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(c), when all election contests arising from an election are complete, the election officer shall either: (i) retain the ballots and election returns until the time for preserving them under this section has run; or (ii) destroy the ballots and election returns remaining in the election officer's custody without examining the ballots and election returns if the time for preserving them under this section has run. (c) (i) An auditor conducting an audit described in Section 36-12-15.2 may examine the ballots and election returns described in this Subsection (4). (ii) The lieutenant governor may examine the ballots and election returns described in this Subsection (4). (5) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the legislative auditor general: (a) may make and keep a copy of ballots or election returns as part of a legislative audit; and (b) may not examine, make a copy, or keep a copy of a ballot in a manner that identifies the ballot with the voter who casts the ballot. (6) Each of the following is not a record, and is not subject to disclosure, under Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act: (a) all ballots and election returns; (b) all election material; (c) any working copy of election material that the election officer makes under Subsection (3)(b)(ii); and (d) a copy described in Subsection (5)(a). (7) Each of the following is a public record under Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act: (a) the final report of the disposition of all rejected and resolved ballots described in Subsection 20A-3a-401(11)(b); (b) the results and tally of all ballots that have been counted described in Subsection 20A-3a-402(2); (c) each posting of ballot statistics described in Section 20A-3a-405; and (d) any early unofficial returns or reports described in Subsection 20A-4-104(4). (8) The retention and disposition requirements described in this section for ballots, election returns, and election material: (a) supersede the retention and disposition requirements for ballots, election returns, and election material that were in effect before the effective date of this bill; and (b) apply to ballots, election returns, and election material created before, on, or after the effective date of this bill. (9) The retention and disposition requirements described in this section do not require the creation of a record that an election officer is not otherwise required to create.