On Thursday, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson denied S.B. 31, the State Flag Amendments Referendum, after the sponsors failed to meet the signature requirements by the April 12th deadline. This means the referendum won’t appear on the November ballot and the new design of the Utah state flag is here to stay. Supporters needed 134,298 signatures. Clerks validated 21,030 signatures and rejected 2,117 signatures. The sponsors submitted an additional 28,449 signatures that were not verified. The referendum was filed on March 6th and quickly had a grassroots effort gathering signatures in communities across the state, including within the Uintah Basin. The statewide effort of citizens had 40 days from the day that the legislative session ended to gather the signatures and they chose to go the route of gathering physical signatures. While support cropped up in communities across the state, it proved to be a difficult task to complete the process by the deadline.
