Thousands of Utah voters opened letters from Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson last week with an alarming message: thanks to SB153, their voter registration data is about to go back on public rolls. Names, home addresses, party affiliation and voting history (whether they voted, not how) will be posted as of May 25.
If you marked your record “private” or “withheld,” that protection is about to disappear—and the statewide file is for sale.
3 days - Deadline for Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress to submit signatures to qualify for the primary ballot (4/10/2026)
4 days - Utah Forward Party nominating convention (4/11/2026)
18 days - Utah State Republican and Democratic State Party nominating conventions (4/25/2026)
77 days - Utah's 2026 primary election (6/23/2026)
210 days - 2026 midterm elections (11/3/2026)
945 days - 2028 presidential election (11/7/2028)
The change caps years of pressure from election-fraud activists and a lawsuit that lawmakers now cite as the reason they were forced to gut Utah’s voter privacy law.
Here’s how Utah’s voter records were set up until now: Most registrations were public. Voters could opt to keep their information “private” for any reason. A separate “withheld” category shielded people at risk if disclosure could endanger them—think domestic violence survivors or police—and those records could not be released under any circumstances.
SB153 flips that. Private and withheld records become public. There’s a carveout that can keep records sealed for domestic or dating violence victims, law enforcement, public figures and others who obtain a court protective order. Everyone else goes on the public list starting May 25.
The state’s entire voter database is available for purchase from the lieutenant governor’s office for $1,050.
Utah’s voter registration info hasn’t always been private.
In 2014, lawmakers panicked after a New Hampshire man bought the statewide file and posted it online, including names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdates and party affiliation. SB36, sponsored by Sen. Karen Mayne, D-Kearns, limited who could purchase the voter file and for what purposes.
In 2017, the legislature passed HB348, letting voters choose to make their voter records private for any reason. Previously, only those with a police report and court record showing threats could hide their information.
After political parties and candidates complained they couldn’t reach voters who marked their information as private, lawmakers passed SB83 in 2020, letting political organizations access private records for campaign purposes.
Then came 2020. Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden, and the flood of false claims about massive election fraud became the catalyst for dismantling voter privacy in Utah.
Leading the charge were a pair of Utah lawmakers, former Reps. Steve Christiansen and Phil Lyman. along with their allies, who repeatedly tried to pry loose Utah’s full, unredacted voter lists.
In 2021, Christiansen traveled to Arizona to observe the hand recount of votes in Maricopa County after Biden carried the state by 10,477 votes. Christiansen unsuccessfully pushed for a similar “forensic audit” of Utah’s elections.
A few months later, Lyman joined Christiansen on a trip to South Dakota to attend the “cyber symposium” put on by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, with the goal of rooting out election fraud. The pair also took the stage at a conspiracy-fueled conference in Salt Lake City, where they made more false claims about election fraud.
Throughout 2021, Christiansen and Lyman continued to push claims of election fraud that were unsupported by the facts. They even tried leveraging their official positions as elected officials to obtain Utah’s full voter rolls, including records marked as “private” or “withheld.” Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson refused the request.
Because of those voter registrations marked as private, it can sometimes appear that there are more votes than voters when comparing election results to the public voter rolls. That has fueled conspiracy theories about so-called “phantom voters” who do not exist.
That was one of the reasons that Lyman sued Utah election officials in 2024, alleging that they violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by refusing to turn over the state’s complete voter registration list. He argued that NVRA requires states to let people inspect voter registration records, and overrides the state’s privacy protections.
After a judge tossed out Lyman’s suit, Sen. Todd Weiler blamed it, and Lyman, as the reason lawmakers were forced to pass SB153 during the 2026 session.
“Don’t forget to thank Phil Lyman for that letter you received this week telling you that your private voter records will be made public next month. This is the very reform that he and his supporters have been advocating/suing for!” Weiler posted on X/Twitter.
Don’t forget to thank Phil Lyman for that letter you received this week telling you that your private voter records will be made public next month. This is the very reform that he and his supporters have been advocating/suing for! #utpol https://t.co/PqbBqq6V5G— Todd Weiler (@gopTODD) April 3, 2026
S.B. 153 was enacted in response to a lawsuit filed by Phil Lyman. Due to an existing federal law that was not previously enforced, the legislature was advised that either we needed to pass legislation to make this change — or the court would eventually force us to.— Todd Weiler (@gopTODD) April 3, 2026
“S.B. 153 was enacted in response to a lawsuit filed by Phil Lyman. Due to an existing federal law that was not previously enforced, the legislature was advised that either we needed to pass legislation to make this changchange—orcourt would eventually force us to,” he said in a follow-up post.
Despite that scapegoating of Lyman and his supporters, the Utah Senate rebuffed HB270 during the 2025 session, which sought the same result as SB153. Lawmakers rejected it then and passed SB153 in 2026.
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