Hello John,
I wanted to make sure you saw Kate’s email from last week. Utah’s vote-by-mail system is once again under attack, and this time, legislative leadership is backing the effort.
We’re just $650 away from reaching our goal of $10,000 to protect vote-by-mail. Can you donate today and help us reach our goals?
Stewardship Utah has fought—and won—against these attacks before, but this time, the stakes are even higher. H.B. 300 is a direct threat to our democracy, fueled by baseless claims and political maneuvering. If passed, it will make voting harder, especially for rural and working Utahns.
Can you help us meet our $10,000 goal to push back on legislative overreach? We’re working hard at the Capitol every day, but we can’t do it without your support. Every donation goes directly to defending vote-by-mail and ensuring every Utahn has a voice in our elections. Chip in today to help us stop H.B. 300. |
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From:
Kate Steinicke, Stewardship Utah <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Feb 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Subject: Donate Today to Save Vote by Mail!
To: Greg Yerkes <[email protected]> |
Hello Greg, Kate here with Stewardship Utah. Once again, our rights to vote-by-mail in Utah are under attack. Fortunately, Stewardship Utah has a long track record of successfully defending vote-by-mail, but we need your help!
Will you chip in to help us raise $10,000 directly supporting Stewardship Utah’s efforts to defend vote-by-mail?
Utah’s vote-by-mail program began in 2004 and has grown rapidly in the years since. In 2018, 27 of 29 counties voted by mail, and about 90% of voters in that election cast ballots by mail. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Utah lawmakers passed a law in 2020 that made vote-by-mail the default voting method for all registered voters. During the 2020 general election, 93% of Utah voters cast a mail-in ballot. The current vote-by-mail system deployed in Utah contains more than 20 security measures to ensure accuracy and transparency—from triple checks for signature verification to barcode readers to prevent duplicate votes.
Since it was introduced, support for vote-by-mail in Utah has been bipartisan and popular.
Beginning in 2020, some Utah policymakers began expressing concerns about vote-by-mail in Utah. Introduced this year, a bill named H.B. 300 arose from consistent yet unfounded accusations of voter fraud and security lapses in mail-in voting. Despite no evidence of voter fraud and a substantial track record of improving voter security and transparency in Utah, the campaign behind H.B. 300 attempts to create distrust of an election system that performs well and enjoys support from the vast majority of Utah voters. This time, legislative leadership, including Speaker Mike Schultz, is backing these efforts. What was formerly a fringe (and baseless) concern has now become standard and mainstream–an alarming development for our democracy in Utah.
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Navajo Nation residents standing in line to cast their vote. HB 300 would disproportionally impact rural voters, especially those on the Navajo Nation, who sometimes drive well over an hour to cast a ballot in person. |
Nat Williams, our democracy policy associate, has joined with a coalition of other organizations rallying Utahns to support vote-by-mail in any way they can, including work behind the scenes at the capitol every day to stop this disastrous legislation from becoming reality. But we need your help! A donation today helps to keep Nat and the Stewardship Utah team fighting H.B. 300, protecting vote-by-mail, and more to protect the land, air and water for all in Utah.
Please consider donating to Stewardship Utah today. Vote-by-mail stands as an example of what Utah can achieve for all Utahns, and we need your support to ensure it not only survives this legislature, but thrives for all future voters. Stand with Stewardship Utah, support our work, and bolster our right to self-govern.
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Stewardship Utah
68 E 2700 S
South Salt Lake, UT 84115
United States |
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