20A-2-105 - Determining residency.
20A-2-105. Determining residency.
(1) Except as provided in Subsection (4), election officials and judges shall apply thestandards and requirements of this section when determining whether or not a person is a residentfor purposes of interpreting this title or the Utah constitution.
(2) A "resident" is a person who resides within a specific voting precinct in Utah asprovided in this section.
(3) (a) A person resides in Utah if:
(i) the person's principal place of residence is within Utah; and
(ii) the person has a present intention to continue residency within Utah permanently orindefinitely.
(b) A person resides within a particular voting precinct if, as of the date of registering tovote, the person has the person's principal place of residence in that voting precinct.
(4) (a) The principal place of residence of any person shall be determined by applying theprovisions of this Subsection (4).
(b) A person's "principal place of residence" is that place in which the person's habitationis fixed and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of returning.
(c) A person has not gained or lost a residence solely because the person is present inUtah or present in a voting precinct or absent from Utah or absent from the person's votingprecinct because the person is:
(i) employed in the service of the United States or of Utah;
(ii) a student at any institution of learning;
(iii) incarcerated in prison or jail; or
(iv) residing upon any Indian or military reservation.
(d) (i) A member of the armed forces of the United States is not a resident of Utahmerely because that member is stationed at any military facility within Utah.
(ii) In order to be a resident of Utah, that member must meet the other requirements ofthis section.
(e) (i) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(e)(ii), a person has not lost the person'sresidence if that person leaves the person's home to go into a foreign country or into another stateor into another voting precinct within Utah for temporary purposes with the intention ofreturning.
(ii) If that person has voted in that other state or voting precinct, the person is a residentof that other state or voting precinct.
(f) A person is not a resident of any county or voting precinct if that person comes fortemporary purposes and does not intend to make that county or voting precinct the person'shome.
(g) If a person removes to another state with the intention of making it the person'sprincipal place of residence, the person loses the person's residence in Utah.
(h) If a person moves to another state with the intent of remaining there for an indefinitetime as a place of permanent residence, the person loses the person's residence in Utah, eventhough the person intends to return at some future time.
(i) (i) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(i)(ii), the place where a person's familyresides is presumed to be the person's place of residence.
(ii) A person may rebut the presumption established in Subsection (4)(i)(i) by proving theperson's intent to remain at a place other than where the person's family resides.
(j) (i) A person has changed his residence if:
(A) the person has acted affirmatively to remove himself from one geographic location;and
(B) the person has an intent to remain in another place.
(ii) There can only be one residence.
(iii) A residence cannot be lost until another is gained.
(5) In computing the period of residence, a person shall:
(a) include the day on which the person's residence begins; and
(b) exclude the day of the next election.
(6) (a) There is a presumption that a person is a resident of Utah and of a voting precinctand intends to remain in Utah permanently or indefinitely if the person makes an oath oraffirmation upon a registration application form that the person's residence address and place ofresidence is within a specific voting precinct in Utah.
(b) The election officers and election officials shall allow that person to register and voteunless, upon a challenge by a registrar or some other person, it is shown by law or by clear andconvincing evidence that:
(i) the person does not intend to remain permanently or indefinitely in Utah; or
(ii) the person is incarcerated in prison or jail.
(7) (a) The rules set forth in this section for determining place of residence for votingpurposes do not apply to a person incarcerated in prison or jail.
(b) For voting registration purposes, a person incarcerated in prison or jail is consideredto reside in the voting precinct in which the person's place of residence was located beforeincarceration.
(8) If a person's principal place of residence is a residential parcel of one acre in size orsmaller that is divided by the boundary line between two or more counties, that person shall beconsidered a resident of the county in which a majority of the residential parcel lies.
Amended by Chapter 276, 2008 General Session