By Lee Davidson

| The Salt Lake Tribune

A day after release of a study in which researchers found 40 percent of voter registrations in Utah are flawed — with bad addresses, duplications or even registering the dead — a Senate committee endorsed a bill intended to help clean up problems.

The Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee voted 5-0 to endorse HB253 by Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City, and sent it to the full Senate.

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It would require county clerks to send mailings to people who do not vote in two consecutive general elections to verify their address. If the U.S. Postal Service sends that mailing back saying it was undeliverable, clerks will send a second letter.

The second will notify the voters that if they fail to vote in one of the next two general elections or fail to contact their offices to verify their addresses, their names will be removed from the rolls.

While the bill has passed the House, it was controversial because critics said it could violate the federal Voting Rights Act, which bans removing voters from registration rolls merely for not voting. Powell says names would be removed because of the notice of a bad address — as is allowed by the Voting Rights Act —  and would give people ample time and opportunity to correct it.

The action came a day after a study by the Pew Center for the States reported problems with registrations nationwide, including in Utah. Data provided to the state Lieutenant Governor’s Office said there were flaws in two of five registrations in Utah.

"Anyone who has campaigned can tell you our voter rolls are at least 40 percent in error," Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, said. "It’s a huge, huge issue."

Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, lamented that such a lengthy process is required to remove errant registrations and comply with federal law. "I don’t think we have to apologize to ask people to affirmatively verify their voter registration to participate in the process."