Voting Equipment Amendments
HB 26 amends Utah's voting equipment rules to enhance security and standardize procurement. It bans wireless communication in all voting machines (except electronic pollbooks), repeals outdated ranked-choice voting certification rules, and requires election officials to purchase only equipment selected by the lieutenant governor's new voting equipment system. The bill creates a Voting Equipment Selection Committee to help the lieutenant governor evaluate and procure secure voting systems that meet mechanical ballot requirements. These changes directly affect election officials, vendors, and voters by standardizing equipment security and procurement processes.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Jan 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Mar 2026
Introduced Jan 20, 2026
Signed Mar 7, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Substitute #1
→
Enrolled
·
6 edits
·
Mar 7, 2026
MODERATE
This bill updates Utah's voting equipment laws to ban wireless capabilities on most voting machines, centralize the selection of new voting systems under the Lieutenant Governor, and establish a new committee to oversee procurement. It also repeals a specific certification rule for ranked-choice voting and clarifies that electronic pollbooks and official registers are exempt from the wireless communication ban. The changes aim to enhance election security and standardize equipment across the state.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded to include a new committee structure and procurement oversight by the Lieutenant Governor, while the applicability of the wireless ban was narrowed to exclude electronic pollbooks and official registers.
REQUIREMENT
Added a requirement that all voting equipment (except electronic pollbooks and official registers) must not be capable of wireless communication.
Repealed a provision that governed the certification of voting equipment used for ranked-choice voting.
Prohibited election officers from acquiring voting equipment that is not part of the new system selected by the Lieutenant Governor.
Created a Voting Equipment Selection Committee to assist the Lieutenant Governor in procuring new voting systems and ensuring they comply with mechanical ballot requirements.
DEFINITION
Added a definition for 'New voting equipment system' to describe equipment that operates in a materially different way than what is being replaced.
TIMELINE
Set the effective date of the bill to May 6, 2026.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 5, 2026 · House Jan 20, 2026
How they voted
29–0
Passed
Total votes 29
Feb 5, 2026
D
Democratic6
100% Yea
N
Forward1
100% Yea
R
Republican22
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
40
Key actions
7
Committee
3
Mar 7, 2026
Signed into law
Governor Signed
executive
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Jan 29, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]
upper
Jan 28, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]
upper
Jan 21, 2026
Introduced
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
upper
Jan 20, 2026
Upper · Passed
House/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Jan 20, 2026
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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