Utah's election audit reveals continuing frustrating problems related to universal mail-in voting.
The audit follows a law enacted in 2023 that requires the Legislative Auditor General's Office to review the state's election process every two years. While this year's audit focused on local elections in November 2023, presidential primaries in March 2024, and state primaries in June 2024, auditors also noted that the November 2024 general election would be “monitored”. salt lake tribune Reported.
“Is voting by mail really as safe as voting in person?”
About 1,400 people who may have died remain eligible to vote in Utah, and about 700 of them are still considered “active,” according to the audit. All active voters in Utah receive mail-in ballots, so these 700 people who likely died “would have received their ballots,” the audit report said. Utah News Dissemination.
The audit also found that two of the 700 people who likely died “voted in the November 2023 election.”
In addition to potentially invalid ballots, the audit revealed 300 “potentially duplicate records,” which resulted in some voters “doing it twice in a past election.” We also found cases where it appeared that the person had voted.
Other issues cited in the audit include inconsistent practices by county clerks, “insufficient camera surveillance” in certain counties, and clear “signature verification training standards” that the lieutenant governor's office can enforce across the state. For example, the company has not established the
At Monday's commission meeting, State Elections Director Ryan Cawley said the results should be cause for concern as well as hope. Cawley said the audit was “the best we could given the tools we had,” especially considering data gaps and information-sharing issues between the Utah Department of Technical Services and the lieutenant governor's office. “I did my best,” he admitted.
Still, the auditors noted that they “found no significant irregularities in Utah's election system,” while asserting that more steps need to be taken to protect the integrity of universal mail-in voting. .
Utah lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed concern about the audit results, but for different reasons.
Republicans saw the audit as an indictment on mail-in voting in general. House Speaker Mike Schultz (R-Hooper) took particular issue with votes cast by dead people. “How do you vote if you die?” he asked. He also questioned whether such obvious voter fraud would continue to occur “even with in-person voting.”
Auditors at the meeting acknowledged that in-person voting makes voter impersonation more difficult, but argued that it cannot completely eradicate the problem.
Mr. Schultz remained dissatisfied. “I think it begs the question: Is voting by mail really as safe as voting in person?” he added. KSL.com. “And based on the audits that we're seeing, that's clearly not the case. And that's a concern to me going forward.”
“Yes, think of all the poor dead voters, duplicate voters, and illegal voters that we conservatives are trying to suppress.”
As expected, Democrats began to publicly worry that the results of the audit would cause the public to question the implementation of universal mail-in voting. They also implied that eliminating universal mail-in voting could be akin to voter suppression.
“Voting by mail is not the problem,” exclaimed Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla (D-Salt Lake City).
Escamilla similarly argued that sufficient safeguards are already in place. “We want to make sure we’re focusing on the real issue: enforcement,” she said.
House Minority Leader Angela Romero (D-Salt Lake City) agreed: “We don't want this to be the ammunition to eliminate mail-in voting and other voting options here in Utah.”
“I'm concerned that people will try to use this audit to eliminate voting by mail,” Romero continued. “We want to make sure we're encouraging people to vote, not discouraging people from voting. And if you look at where this conversation is going, we're not putting up barriers so people can't vote. I'm worried that it will.”
Democrats may be right to worry about the future of universal mail-in voting in their states. Many on social media reacted to reports about the audit, calling for an end to the practice.
Republicans: “Let's end universal mail-in voting'' Sen. Mike Lee of Utah he tweeted.
“absolutely,” Elon Musk said: This is a reply to Lee.
Trent Staggs, the mayor of Riverton, Utah, went further, arguing that states should implement “in-person voting, paper ballots, photo ID, and Election Day rather than Election Month.”
Later, when a user accused Staggs of calling for voter suppression. Stags joked: “Yes, think of all the poor dead voters, duplicate voters, and illegal voters that we conservatives are trying to suppress.”
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