Summit County Clerk Eve Furse said she received 25 packets of signatures from referendum sponsors Feb. 18.
The afternoon of Feb. 19, she informed the sponsors she had rejected all but four packets for allegedly violating referendum procedures.
To satisfy state law’s binding requirement, all were spiral bound, but 21 of the 25 packets were also three-hole punched. Furse told KPCW it calls into question the integrity of the signature-gathering process. She said it could indicate signatures had been separated from the voter information packet.
KPCW photos taken at signature-gathering events appear to show standalone signature sheets, without the 160-page voter information packet that includes the sponsors’ argument, the county’s fiscal statement and the ordinance the referendum seeks to overturn.
Utah’s elections website states, “The packets must be bound across the top in at least three places using staples, stitching, or spiral binding. Packets must be bound before they are circulated, and they cannot be taken apart or rearranged once they are bound.”
State law explicitly requires binding but doesn't get as specific about how, and Furse cited 2021 case law, Smith v. Zook, that says packets without the signature sheets attached aren’t packets at all.
“If you have evidence that would show the packets had been bound prior to their being signed, we would be happy to consider that, and if persuaded, verify those packets,” she wrote to the referendum sponsors.
They disagreed with her conclusion and told her they are seeking “a formal injunction.”
The sponsors didn’t respond to KPCW’s multiple requests for comment Feb. 20. Previously the group indicated it was aware voters must at least be able to read the voter information packet before signing.
“Printing costs for the 160-page packets signature gatherers are required to present to potential signers in their entirety have already exceeded $3,000,” the sponsors said in a press release Feb. 12.
Referendum sponsors claimed to be halfway to their 4,554-signature goal Feb. 12, ahead of the March 3 deadline.
Furse said the signature packets include up to 100 signatures each, if they are full. That means her office may have rejected up to 2,100 signatures.
She said state law doesn’t allow her to return the rejected packets to the sponsors, but they may contact voters to re-sign if they made copies. Now referendum sponsors are warning not to sign again because they say it will invalidate the signatures.
Meanwhile, the clerk’s office is processing the four packets it did accept. As of Feb. 20, it had verified 162 signatures.
Furse said she received only one request to remove a signature from the referendum, prior to receiving any signature packets.
If the referendum sponsors can overcome the setback, they’ll put the Summit County Council’s controversial approval of a 725-unit neighborhood and public-private partnership with Dakota Pacific Real Estate in western Kimball Junction to a countywide vote this November.
After the referendum effort began, the real estate company filed to incorporate its land into a town. If successful, a Dakota Pacific-appointed board gets land use authority on those parcels and would no longer need county approval.
The town would not include the partnership land, where there’d be an expanded transit center, park-and-ride, pedestrian bridge and plaza. The county and developer have resolved to share those costs, but the developer’s contribution maxes out at $3.75 million.
It’s not clear if that part of the county-developer agreement would still be enforceable if Dakota Pacific successfully forms a town.
Dakota Pacific has told KPCW it’s committed to the project the council approved in December regardless.
