2020 Utah elections

Utah state elections in 2020 will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Aside from its presidential primaries held on March 3, its primary elections will be held on June 30, 2020.[1]

In addition to the U.S. presidential race, Utah voters will elect the Governor of Utah, 9 seats of its Board of Education, four of Utah's other executive officers, all of its seats to the House of Representatives, all of the seats of the Utah House of Representatives, and 15 of 29 seats in the Utah State Senate. Neither of the state's two U.S. Senate seats are up for election this year, but there are also seven ballot measures which will be voted on.[1]

Federal offices

President of the United States

Utah, a stronghold for the Republican Party and thus a reliable "red state", has 6 electoral votes in the Electoral College.

United States House of Representatives

There are 4 U.S. Representatives in Utah that were up for election.

Governor

Attorney General

2020 Utah Attorney General Election

November 3, 2020

Nominee Sean Reyes Greg Skordas Rudy Bautista Party Republican Democratic Libertarian Popular vote 878,853 489,500 82,444 Percentage 60.6% 33.7% 5.7%

Attorney General before election Sean Reyes Republican Elected Attorney General Attorney General Sean Reyes

Incumbent Republican Attorney General Sean Reyes is running for a third term. He is facing Republican challenger David O. Leavitt (Utah County attorney) after former Attorney General John Swallow withdrew from the race.[2]

In the Democratic primary, attorney and ex-small claims court judge Greg Skordas, who was the Democratic nominee for the Attorney General election in 2004, is running unopposed (following the withdrawal of Kevin Probasco). Rudy Bautista is running as a Libertarian.[2]

Nominee

• Sean Reyes, incumbent

Eliminated in the primary

• David Leavitt

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	David Leavitt	Sean Reyes	John Swallow	Undecided
Suffolk University/Salt Lake Tribune	June 4-7, 2020	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	26%	30.8%	–	43.2%
Y2 Analytics/UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News	May 9-15, 2020	581 (LV)[lower-alpha 2]	–	40%	60%	–	–
Y2 Analytics/UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News	March 21-30, 2020	704 (LV)[lower-alpha 3]	–	32%	54%	15%	–

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sean Reyes (incumbent)	275,207	54.0%
	Republican	David Leavitt	234,027	46.0%
Total votes			509,234	100.0%

Nominee

• Greg Skordas

Eliminated at the convention

• Kevin Probasco

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Kevin Probasco	Greg Skordas
Y2 Analytics/UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News	March 21-30, 2020	223 (LV)	± 6.6%	28%	72%

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Sean Reyes (R)	Greg Skordas (D)	Other	Undecided
Lighthouse Research/Salt Lake Tribune	August 31–September 12, 2020	2,000 (RV)	± 4.38%	46%	25%	5%[lower-alpha 4]	23%

Results

2020 Utah Attorney General election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sean Reyes (incumbent)	878,853	60.58%
	Democratic	Greg Skordas	489,500	33.74%
	Libertarian	Rudy Bautista	82,444	5.68%
Total votes			1,450,797	100.00%

Auditor

2020 Utah Auditor election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Dougall (incumbent)	1,000,846	74.78%
	United Utah	Brian Fabbi	173,644	12.97%
	Constitution	Jeffrey Ostler	163,872	12.24%
Total votes			1,338,362	100.00%

Treasurer

2020 Utah Treasurer election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Damschen (incumbent)	994,115	74.57%
	Libertarian	Joseph Speciale	198,549	14.89%
	Constitution	Richard Proctor	140,466	10.54%
Total votes			1,333,130	100.00%

State Legislature

All 75 seats of the Utah House of Representatives and 15 of 29 seats of the Utah State Senate were up for election. Before the election the composition of the Utah State Legislature was:

State Senate Party # of seats Republican 23 Democratic 6 Total 29

House of Representatives Party # of seats Republican 59 Democratic 16 Total 75

Ballot Measures

Measure SJR 9 is a state constitutional amendment to allow income tax to fund programs for children and people with disabilities.[4]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	For SJR 9	Against SJR 9	Undecided
Y2 Analytics/UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News	March 21-30, 2020	1,260 (LV)	± 2.8%	46%	35%	19%

Amendment A

Update Gender Terminology

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	828,629	57.69
No	607,829	42.31
Total votes	1,436,458	100.00
Source: Associated Press[3]

Amendment B

Lawmaker Eligibility Timing

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,114,795	80.10
No	276,897	19.90
Total votes	1,391,692	100.00
Source: Associated Press[3]

Amendment C

Remove Slavery Exception

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,138,974	80.48
No	276,171	19.52
Total votes	1,415,145	100.00
Source: Associated Press[3]

Amendment D

Revise Local Water Rights

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	827,596	61.14
No	525,985	38.86
Total votes	1,353,581	100.00
Source: Associated Press[3]

Amendment E

Add Right to Hunt and Fish

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,063,212	74.92
No	355,848	25.08
Total votes	1,419,060	100.00
Source: Associated Press[3]

Amendment F

Legislative Session Dates

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	895,435	66.51
No	450,835	33.49
Total votes	1,346,270	100.00
Source: Associated Press[3]

Amendment G

Expand Income, Prop Tax Uses

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	764,420	54.09
No	648,840	45.91
Total votes	1,413,260	100.00
Source: Associated Press[3]

Voting Information

The 2020 election took place against a backdrop of uncertainty. The following data tables highlight voter registration rules, in-person voting procedures, and absentee voting procedures relevant to the November 3, 2020, general election in the state of Utah.

Voter registration in Utah [5]
Registration URL	Link
Registration status URL	Link
Registration update URL	Link
In-person registration deadline	October 23, 2020
Mail registration deadline	October 23, 2020
Mail postmark or receipt deadline	Received
Online registration deadline	October 23, 2020
Same-day registration	Yes
Early voting same-day registration	Yes

In-person voting in Utah [6]
All voters required to show ID	Yes
ID types	Link
ID source URL	Link
Early voting start date	October 20, 2020
Early voting end date	October 30, 2020
Weekend voting?	Yes
Early voting source URL	Link
Election Day poll times	7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Absentee voting in Utah [7]
Are there limits on who can request a ballot?	No
Mail request deadline	N/A
Request postmark or receipt deadline	N/A
Mail return deadline	November 2, 2020
Return postmark or receipt deadline	Postmarked
Notary/witness requirements	No requirement

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Including registered Republican likely primary voters and currently unaffiliated likely primary voters
3. Including registered Republican likely primary voters and currently unaffiliated likely primary voters
4. Bautista (L) with 5%; "Other" with no voters

Partisan clients

References

1. "Utah elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
2. "UTAH". Politics1. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
3. Election Results, Associated Press, November 27, 2020
4. "UTAH POLITICAL TRENDS PANEL MARCH 2020" (PDF). Y2 Analytics. March 30, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
5. "Utah elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
6. "Utah elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
7. "Utah elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

External links

• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Utah", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "Utah: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of Utah". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• Utah at Ballotpedia
• "State Elections Legislation Database", Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures, State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020