Utah state flag, old on the left, new one on the right.
SALT LAKE CITY – An attempt to halt changes to the Utah state flag has failed to gather enough signatures to make it onto the ballot. According to a letter from Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s office on Thursday, only 21,030 signatures submitted by a group of citizens were validated by county clerks. An additional 28,449 signatures were submitted but were not verified. This falls short of the 134,298 valid signatures required by Wednesday.
“Because the required signature threshold was not met, I hereby determine S.B. 31 State Flag Amendments Referendum is insufficient, and therefore will not be placed on the ballot,” Henderson wrote.
The group behind the referendum had filed it due to their frustration with the new state flag, arguing that the current flag, which honors Utah’s past, does not need to be replaced. Chad Saunders, one of the leaders of the group, previously stated that he believed the Legislature did not listen to Utahns when adopting the new flag during the last legislative session.
After the lieutenant governor’s letter was issued, Saunders acknowledged in a statement the difficulties of a successful referendum. However, he also stated that the group would continue to work on finding a path forward to ensure that Utahns are heard on this and other subjects.
Supporters of the new flag argue that it better represents Utah and have noted that the current flag will still be designated as the “historic” flag and will be flown ceremonially on holidays and during the legislative session.
Senator Dan McCay (R-Riverton), who sponsored the bill creating the new state flag, wrote on Twitter that he was aware there were passionate feelings on both sides of the issue. He also stated that with citizen input and assistance from Governor Cox, they would preserve Utah’s historic state flag and ensure its place at Utah’s Capitol, so that the state’s history lives on.