The short version
Utah gives candidates more than one route onto the primary ballot: you can go through your party's convention, gather signatures, or do both. You start by filing a Declaration of Candidacy with your filing officer and paying a filing fee.
- Offices you can run for
- Federal (U.S. House and Senate); statewide offices (Governor and other state officials); the Utah Senate and House; county and municipal offices; and judicial seats (retention).
- How to get on the ballot
- File a Declaration of Candidacy with your filing officer and pay the filing fee; on the same form most candidates also declare whether they'll gather signatures. Federal candidates file with the Lieutenant Governor's Office; other candidates file with their county clerk. Signature gatherers must be at least 18, and signers can't be paid. The 2026 Candidate Manual lists the fee and signature counts by office.
- Who runs candidate filing
- Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office — Elections
This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice. Filing deadlines and fees change every election cycle and vary by office — the official Utah resources below are the final word. When in doubt, the elections authority is right and we're wrong.
Official Utah candidate resources
Start here for the exact deadlines, fees, forms, and signature counts for your office and cycle.
Once you're on the ballot, Motion51 runs your field game.
Get your district's voter file loaded, cut into walkable turf, and onto an app your volunteers use at the door. Utah is fully available — see how to get your voter file.
Talk to us about your Utah race
Tell us what you're running for and we'll help you go from "qualified" to "knocking doors" — voter file loaded, turf cut, volunteers set up.