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Lawmakers have advanced a plan that would allow Utah voters, if they wished, to cast ballots at a central location rather than their locally assigned polling places .
HB130 would permit people to go to "voting centers" close to businesses or central locations that would allow residents from anywhere in their county to more conveniently cast ballots.
"It allows them to vote at a time and place that is most convenient for them," said Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City. The House Government Operations Committee has endorsed it unanimously, and sent it to the full House.
Chavez-Houck said such voting centers — usually in city halls or county-clerk offices — are now used for early voting. She said it would be more convenient for many people to vote there during lunches or breaks from work, but state law prohibits having those centers open on Election Day itself.
The bill would allow counties to choose whether to offer such centers. Chavez-Houck said technology advances could ensure that people could not vote in more than one location.