What's on Utah's Nov. 3 Ballot

On every Utah ballot · Statewide

Amendment B: Would Raise the Bar for Citizen-Passed Tax Laws to 60%

This is the only measure on the 2026 ballot that changes how Utah citizens can make their own laws. The Legislature put it on the ballot itself.

Official ballot wording“Shall the Utah Constitution be amended to require that citizen-proposed laws that increase taxes compared to existing law be approved by at least 60% of voters, instead of a simple majority?”

Who can pass a tax increase, and with what vote

The LegislatureMajority of all members

Citizens, by statewide initiative — todaySimple majority

Citizens, by statewide initiative — if B passes60% of voters

Dark line = 50%. Bars show the share of the vote needed to pass.

How each is counted: The Legislature needs a majority of all elected members of each house, at least 38 of 75 representatives and 15 of 29 senators, so an absent lawmaker counts like a no. The bill then goes to the governor, who can sign it, veto it, or let it become law without signing; two-thirds of each house can override a veto. Citizen initiatives count only the votes cast on the question, with no minimum turnout, and do not go to the governor. Amendment B's 60% is “60% of those voting on the legislation,” not 60% of registered voters.

What it covers

Statewide citizen initiatives that would:

create a new tax,
apply an existing tax to more items or transactions,
raise an existing tax rate, or
lower a property-tax rate by less than current law would.

It applies to votes held after Nov. 1, 2026, and takes effect Nov. 23, 2026 if approved.

What it does not cover

County, city and town initiatives, and referendums like Roy's Prop 10. The amendment leaves the local section of the Constitution at a simple majority.

Laws the Legislature itself passes. Those still need a majority of all elected members of each house (38 of 75 and 15 of 29), not 60%.

What it would have meant in 2018

Utah's three 2018 citizen initiatives each passed with roughly 50% to 54% of the vote. None reached 60%. The medical marijuana and Medicaid expansion initiatives both included tax increases.

How it got on the ballot

S.J.R. 2 (2025), “Statewide Initiatives.” Primary sponsor: Sen. Lincoln Fillmore. House sponsor: Rep. Jason B. Kyle. Passed the Senate 21–8 and the House 55–17–3. A constitutional amendment needs two-thirds of each house to reach the ballot, then a simple majority of voters.

The case for it

Sen. Fillmore argued it should take more than 50.1% of voters to raise taxes on the other 49.9%, and that lawmakers answer to voters through elections. The Utah Taxpayers Association supports it.

The case against it

Opponents who testified called it a direct threat to Utahns who use the initiative process, said the process is already one of the hardest in the country, and pointed out that lawmakers do not hold their own tax votes to 60%.

This page takes no position on how to vote. The bigger picture: The Rules Keep Changing traces every bill since 2019 that changed how citizens can put laws and local decisions to a vote.

Two Kinds of Ballot Signatures

Signatures are how anything gets onto a Utah ballot. Candidates use them to put their own names on the primary ballot. Citizens use them to put a law, or a government decision, to a public vote. The rules are not the same.

Candidate for governor (to reach the primary)28,000

Statewide citizen petition, 2026about 140,748

	Candidates	Citizens
What the signatures do	Put a candidate on the primary ballot without winning the party convention	Put a new law (initiative) or a government decision (referendum) to a public vote
Where the rule came from	S.B. 54 (2014), the Count My Vote compromise	Utah Constitution, Article VI, plus state statute
How many, statewide	28,000 for governor	About 140,748 (8% of active voters), spread across 26 of 29 Senate districts
Vote needed to win	The most votes in the primary	A simple majority today. Statewide tax initiatives would need 60% if Amendment B passes.

The company that gathered the governor's signatures

Gathering, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 “to gather signatures, voter registration and other campaign related activities.” Its 2015 articles list Tanner Leatham, Casey Hill and Spencer Stokes as officers, and the current state record lists the same three. Its original registered agent was McCauley & Associates PC.
Gov. Spencer Cox's 2024 campaign used Gathering, Inc. and turned in more than the 28,000 signatures required. Cox lost the 2024 Republican convention and reached the primary through signatures.
In March 2025, the Attorney General's office charged 11 signature gatherers with forgery, communications fraud or violating nomination procedures for petitions circulated January–March 2024. Charging documents say at least five worked for Gathering, Inc. County clerks flagged the suspect packets during verification; in one case, 84 of 2,243 signatures matched voter records.
The Attorney General then was Derek Brown, who co-founded the lobbying firm Lincoln Hill Partners with Casey Hill and is a listed director of Lincoln Hill PAC. Lincoln Hill PAC's treasurer, Mike McCauley, runs an accounting firm with the same name as Gathering, Inc.'s original registered agent.
After the 2024 primary, Phil Lyman sued over how Cox's signatures were verified, noting that the verifying office belongs to Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Cox's running mate. The State Auditor later reported it was “statistically likely” Cox had enough valid signatures.

Charges are accusations, not convictions; anyone charged is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. These are documented relationships and dates. The records do not show that any official acted improperly, and the 2025 prosecution went forward. How the records were read: the 2015 Articles of Incorporation from a screenshot of the state filing; the current Utah Division of Corporations record (entity #9637579-0142) from pasted text; news reports as linked. Not yet confirmed: that McCauley & Associates PC is the same firm as Mike McCauley's (the 2015 filing lists it at Gathering's own address, later filings at 420 E. South Temple).

The full bill-by-bill history of citizen petition rules: The Rules Keep Changing →

How a question gets on your ballot

flowchart TD
  A["Officials decide
(council, commission,
district board)"] --> C["Notice and
public hearing"]
  B["Residents gather
petition signatures"] --> D{"Enough valid
signatures?"}
  D -- "Yes" --> E["County clerk
certifies the ballot"]
  D -- "No" --> F["Not on
the ballot"]
  C --> E
  L["Legislature passes
an amendment by
two-thirds"] --> E
  E --> V["You vote
Nov. 3, 2026"]

Words on this map

Tap a card to flip it.

General obligation bondTap to flip ↻

Money a city, county or district borrows and repays with property taxes over many years. Voters must approve it first.

RAP taxTap to flip ↻

A small local sales tax for Recreation, Arts and Parks. 0.1% is one cent on every $10 you spend.

Advisory questionTap to flip ↻

A non-binding question. The result tells officials what voters think, but doesn't adopt anything by itself.

IncorporationTap to flip ↻

Making an area into its own town or city, with its own council and services.

Initiative vs. referendumTap to flip ↻

An initiative lets citizens write a new law. A referendum lets citizens reverse a law officials already passed.

Council-managerTap to flip ↻

An elected council makes laws; a hired manager runs day-to-day operations.

Constitutional amendmentTap to flip ↻

A change to the Utah Constitution. The Legislature proposes it with a two-thirds vote; voters decide.

Simple majorityTap to flip ↻

More than half of the votes cast, even by one vote.

Questions worth asking, and who to ask

Your county clerk's elections office: for your own sample ballot, which shows only the measures where you live.

Your city recorder or district office: for the voter information pamphlet on a bond or tax, including the arguments for and against and the full cost estimate.

The Lt. Governor's elections office (vote.utah.gov): for the statewide voter information pamphlet with the arguments for and against Amendments A and B.

Your state senator and representative: how they voted on S.J.R. 2 (Amendment B) in 2025, and why.

Washington County Clerk: whether Washington City's Prop 5 is still on the ballot.