U.S. Sen. Mike Lee said Utah is an example to follow for its efforts to verify voter citizenship as the senator comes closer to passing his voter ID law in Congress.

More than a year after it was first introduced, Lee’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act appears to be gaining traction as Republicans seek to make good on President Donald Trump’s campaign promises.

Meanwhile, Utah GOP legislators are backing a bill, HB209, that would create a process for county clerks to verify documentary proof of U.S. citizenship during voter registration, in line with the Utah Constitution.

“While we fight to pass the SAVE Act in the Senate, state-level citizenship requirements for voting and registration will be a vital tool to secure American elections and ensure citizen-only voting,” Lee said. “As ever, Utah leads the way.”

The Utah legislation would mirror that in a handful of Republican-leaning states that empower clerks to independently determine whether a registered voter is not a citizen and to bar participation in state elections.

As Lee, in Washington, D.C., and lawmakers in Utah clamp down on loopholes that may allow for noncitizens to vote, Utah’s chief election officer is also concluding an unprecedented citizenship review of Utah’s voter rolls.

What has the citizenship review found?

On Friday, the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office, which oversees elections in the state, provided an update on its review of noncitizens who are registered to vote.

After analyzing over 2 million records, election officials have so far identified just one noncitizen who was actively registered on voter rolls, but who never voted.

The individual checked the “noncitizen” box on the voter registration form but was still registered by the county clerk in a “clerical error” likely committed out of “some sort of confusion,” Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said.

Before the review began in April, the office identified four noncitizens who registered online to vote. The four were removed from voter rolls and are under investigation. It is unclear whether they voted, according to Henderson.

After confirming the citizenship of more than 99.9% of Utah voters, Henderson’s team is still working through roughly 7,000 records that could not be verified by using state drivers license information or federal databases.

Meanwhile, the office has updated the online voter registration process to prevent noncitizens from completing an application and Henderson is collaborating on HB209 to clarify when clerks can request proof of citizenship.

A problem of federal data?

One of Henderson’s takeaways from the comprehensive citizenship review, which she believes is the first in Utah history, is that federal databases are not a foolproof way to identify noncitizens on voter rolls, she said.

“There is no centralized federal database with a list of U.S. citizens,” Henderson told the Deseret News. “The states need to do further checks to find out. The federal government does not have good data.”

More than 95% of the 2,069,640 voters registered in August could be immediately confirmed as citizens by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office when comparing the state’s voter database with Driver License Division records.

The office then entered a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Homeland Security to use its SAVE program — which compiles Social Security, change of address and death records to determine welfare eligibility.

The program confirmed the citizenship of all but 8,836 of the remaining registered voters. But the database cannot “confirm noncitizenship,” Henderson said. So the Lieutenant Governor’s Office has begun manually inspecting each of the records.

The office found that 77% of the 2,119 active voters born outside the U.S. were citizens. On Jan. 13, the office asked the final 486 actively registered voters who could not be confirmed as citizens to complete a new registration form before Feb. 1.

The office will also inspect the roughly 6,700 records of inactive voters and those with incomplete information who said they were born within the U.S. The review will be published “as soon as we can track down as many of these voters as possible,” Henderson said.

Utah brings Sen. Lee’s SAVE Act to the state level

HB209 outlines what steps clerks can take if they cannot confirm citizenship, according to Henderson, who pointed out that, due to an election law passed last year, all Utah voters will soon be required to have state ID.

HB209, which is sponsored by Rep. Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, sailed through its first committee hearing on Wednesday with the blessing of House Speaker Mike Schultz, and the endorsement of the state’s top election administrators.

The bill would create a “bifurcated ballot system,” similar to that used for military service members in the state, that would provide voters a federal-only ballot if they refuse to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship.

If a registered voter has not provided proof of citizenship — with a drivers license, birth certificate, passport, tribal card or naturalization document — then clerks are instructed to notify the individual they cannot vote in state elections.

Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, both called the bill “common sense” this week, with Adams predicting on Friday that the desire to prevent noncitizens from voting is “probably unanimous up here.”

Over in the U.S. House, GOP leaders have signaled that Lee’s SAVE Act is a priority. The bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act to allow states to require REAL ID identification in order to vote in federal elections.

In addition to adding penalties for knowingly registering a noncitizen, the bill would provide alternate ways of proving citizenship to ensure citizens aren’t prevented from voting if they do not have certain forms of identification.

Any federal reform must actually accomplish “the intended goal,” Henderson said. In 2022, she was removed from voter rolls when her county clerk interpreted her birth on a foreign military base to mean she was not a U.S. citizen.

“We have worked in our state to balance accessibility and security,” Henderson said. “We want to make sure that only eligible voters are registered. We also want to make sure that we don’t erroneously kick off the voter rolls any eligible voters.”

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Kratom, a product sold at gas stations and smoke shops across Utah, is back before lawmakers this legislative session as some families call for tighter regulation following addiction and death tied to its use.

One bill that has advanced in the Senate would ban synthetic kratom, while another proposal that would ban kratom in its natural form is still waiting to be heard.

Several Utahns who spoke with 2News say kratom played a role in the loss of loved ones or in their own addiction. These indicators are urging lawmakers to take action.

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Eva Neeleman said her son, Connor, died after taking a synthetic product containing 7-hydroxymitragynine, also known as 7-OH. Some kratom advocates argue synthetic version of kratom should be banned, while kratom in its natural form should remain legal.

When asked whether she supports an outright ban, Neeleman said she does.

“This stuff will kill your kids,” Neeleman said. “Whatever will get this off the streets, I’m supportive of.”

Paul Baumgartner also called on lawmakers to ban kratom. He said his wife, Brittany, began using kratom in 2024 to help manage back pain, often mixing it with alcohol and other substances.

“She just was not herself,” Baumgartner said. “She had no control over her actions.”

Baumgartner said he witnessed his wife take her own life while using kratom. More than a year later, he said he is still trying to cope with the loss.

“There’s so many things I would like to talk about,” he said. “They’re just — they’re graphic.”

Dustin Hawkins said he was seven years sober from opioid addiction when he tried a kratom drink purchased at an Ogden gas station. He said one drink quickly turned into as many as 10 a day.

“It was even worse for me than opiates because it just didn’t feel wrong,” Hawkins said, referencing the accessibility in gas stations.

He said the addiction cost him more than $100 a day, his job, and strained personal relationships.

“I was a bad OxyContin addict, and this thing in the gas station was the hardest thing for me to deal with out of all of it,” Hawkins said.

Utah Sen. Mike McKell, who sponsored one of the measures up for consideration among lawmakers, said claims from kratom manufacturers and advocates that the substance is no more addictive than caffeine are false.

“They’re wrong, and they’re lying to the public,” McKell said.

McKell’s legislation would repeal the Kratom Consumer Protection Act and ban kratom alkaloids, including 7-hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine, by scheduling them as controlled substances.

“In essence, it would be a ban by scheduling those drugs,” McKell said.

MORE | 2026 Legislative Session

Another proposal, Senate Bill 48, would keep the protection act in place while banning synthetic kratom chemicals. It would also add safety and labeling requirements. For Neeleman, Baumgartner, and Hawkins, though, the measure does not go far enough.

“If it was banned, this wouldn’t exist,” Neeleman said. “Not just Utah. The United States of America needs to ban this product.”

Baumgartner said action at the Capitol is moving in the right direction.

“It’s a very good start,” he said. “It’s not fast enough.”

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An archaeological team in Utah has discovered a literal time capsule from the state’s Wild West past: a bottle of alcohol that had been buried for over a century at the historic mining town of Alta.

Local distillers at High West Saloon are now working to identify the mysterious liquid and unlock the secrets it might hold from the frontier days. Archaeologist Ian Wright has been leading the excavation.

“We have found a 150-year-old bottle of alcohol. So we thought, hey, let’s take it to the experts and see if we can find out what exactly is in it,” said Wright.

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The discovery is particularly significant because it’s the only intact bottle of alcohol from this era ever found in Utah, according to Wright.

High West, Utah’s first legal distillery since 1870, seemed like the perfect place to analyze the historic find. According to their director of distilling, Isaac Winter, the company specializes in blending spirits and has deep roots in Utah’s distilling history.

“We started off as a blending house,” said Winter. “We’re always looking for beautiful spirits across the country, across the world sometimes, to create blends that are something more than the sum of their parts.”

When Wright brought the bottle to the distillery, the team was immediately intrigued by its condition.

“It’s in reasonably good shape, I would say, after sitting for 150 years,” Winter said.

The analysis began with careful examination of the bottle’s aroma and color. The team detected a slight vinegar smell from the cork, but they needed to extract some of the liquid to learn more.

“We weren’t sure if it was clear spirit, if it was aged spirit, if it was beer, if it was wine, if it was champagne,” Winter said.

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To preserve the historic bottle, they called in reinforcements from Old Town Cellars, just up the road, who brought a Coravin device that could extract liquid without breaking the cork.

“We’re being very careful with that sample,” Winter explained as they used the specialized tool.

When the liquid finally emerged, it revealed promising characteristics.

“To see the liquid come out and have a color and have a good smell,” Winter said, describing the moment.

Tara Lindley, director of sensory and product development at High West, noted the complex flavors: “First, there was some kind of a, kind of an oxidized fruit note.”

Winter added: “It’s fruity, there’s a little bit of leather, there’s quite a bit of age on it.”

The analysis revealed that yeast was used in the production, leading the team to believe it was likely some type of beer rather than distilled spirits.

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Despite some initial hesitation, Winter decided to taste the 150-year-old beverage.

“I had a little bit of trepidation going into it, but you have to try it,” Winter said. “It didn’t smell like gasoline, didn’t smell like tobacco spit.”

The discovery of what appears to be beer opened up an exciting possibility — the potential to recreate the historic beverage.

The team made the decision to fully uncork the bottle, despite concerns about damaging the antique container.

“It’s an old bottle, it’s a lot of pressure, you don’t want to damage the bottle,” Wright said.

Once opened, they carefully decanted the liquid and filtered it through a coffee filter to separate any sediment.

“Very exciting to see the liquid as it finally came out,” Winter said. “We put it through a coffee filter — very scientific way of separating the bits from the liquid.”

The sediment at the bottom of the bottle could hold the key to recreation.

“The very bottom of the bottle was sort of turbid — it was sort of milky. We’re going to take that back and hopefully plate it out and find some usable yeast on it,” Winter explained.

If they can successfully cultivate the historic yeast, it could allow them to recreate the exact beer that miners were drinking in Alta over a century ago.

“Science is really at the foundation of creating alcohol. That, and art,” Lindley said.

For Wright, the project represents something larger than just analyzing an old bottle.

“This is so cool because it’s taking history — it’s taking it off of an old dusty shelf,” Wright said. “Because history, it belongs to everybody.”

This story was originally published by Spencer Joseph with the Scripps News Group in Salt Lake City.