Utah Elections Office vs Republican Party bylaw

The Utah Elections Office says it will not pay any attention to a state Republican Party bylaw that says candidates may not gather signatures to get onto the ballot.

The GOP adopted a bylaw in 2017 that said any candidate who did gather signatures could be removed from the ballot and kicked out of the party.

The Elections Office told the GOP on Friday that it will ignore the bylaw, saying state law trumps party rules.

Some members of the party feared the state might decertify the GOP because their rule is in conflict with the state law, but the Elections Office said it was not planning to do that, either.