Vote Watch: KSL Investigators explore voting issues in Utah’s rural counties

SPRING CITY, Utah — David Potter, 68, has been voting in the state for decades and the past several years, by mail, from his home in Sanpete County.

“I heard some concerns by President Donald Trump, that some of these areas might have problems with mail-in ballots,” Potter said. “Here in Utah, we’ve been doing mail-in ballots for quite a few years. So, I didn’t think there would be any problems here.”

Sanpete County: Missing Signature Line

Then Potter received a postcard notifying him that mail-in ballots had arrived in Sanpete County voters’ mailboxes with a critical error: the voter affidavit and signature lines were missing. Ballots cannot be counted without a verified signature.

Election officials compare the signature on your ballot to the one you have on file with the state, likely from your driver’s license.

• Ballots Arrive With Printing Mistake In Sanpete County

When Potter saw the postcard he said, “I thought it was just another advertisement for the elections and then I just happened to read the detailed part of it on the back.”

That’s when Potter emailed the KSL Investigators.

“Are we going to have a whole lot of votes that are going to be rejected in our county?” he asked.

Sanpete County Clerk Sandy Neill said of the 4,000 ballots processed so far, there are approximately 40 without signatures.

“I’m really happy that there’s only 40,” said Potter. “But I wonder – we have a week before the election – whether there may be a whole bunch more mailing them in at the last minute.”

It is Sanpete County’s responsibility to track down the missing signatures. County officials said they will contact those voters – via call, text or mailing a cure letter – until they reach them, or until two weeks after the election.

Still, the county clerk remained confident.

“We will take care of it,” Neill said. “We’ve got this. We’re going to make the votes count.”

The mistake affected approximately 13,500 ballots.

The printing company was responsible for the error.

San Juan County: Voter Disenfranchisement & Redistricting Challenges

Rural San Juan County has experienced its own set of voting issues that date back to the 1980s. The primary issues revolved around representation in different districts in the county.

After a battle in federal court, racial gerrymandering was found to violate the rights of Navajo voters there and the boundaries were redrawn.

• Appeals court agrees a Utah county violated Navajo voting rights through gerrymandering

The non-profit Rural Utah Project got its start in 2018 in San Juan County. Sam Van Wetter, a field organizer based in Boulder, said they made a lot of waves.

“[We] flipped a county commission seat from majority white male conservative to a majority Democrat Navajo representation. That has been a big part of the Rural Utah Project work is enfranchising Navajo voters,” Van Wetter explained. “We have a massive campaign to get addresses [for] folks who live rurally on the reservation there and also to get them to turn out to vote.”

Van Wetter said the goal is to promote access for voters.

“Utah was the first state to allow the vote for women, but there are still barriers across rural America to get people out to vote,” he said.

Garfield County: County Clerk Allegations

Recently in Garfield County, seasonal workers have reported difficulties registering to vote with the current county clerk.

“We’ve been watchdogs to make sure she’s following legal practices. We’ve had the attorney general involved to ensure that there aren’t illegal and unethical barriers to being able to register to vote,” Van Wetter said.

“If you’re a resident of Utah for 30 days before the election, you’re eligible to vote,” explained Justin Lee, director of Utah’s elections.

Lee said his office has since had discussions with county clerks statewide, “reminding them, ‘here’s the rules, here’s the procedures, here’s what you’ve got to follow.’”

The Rural Utah Project is also pushing to increase the number of ballot drop-boxes in rural areas.

In 2018, there were 132 drop boxes statewide. That increased to 160 this year.

Lee says at some point, the number comes down to resources.

“If there’s a ballot dropbox, you’ve got to have someone to pick that up,” he said.

Despite some difficulties, high voter turnout is expected – especially among rural counties in Utah, where it’s not uncommon to see 90% or higher turnout among active voters.

“Our rural counties tend to have really good voter turnout. It’s not unusual to see San Juan, Wayne County, Kane County – with some of your highest turnout rates,” Lee said.

To monitor for any voter issues, the Rural Utah Project and the ACLU plan to have “poll watchers” in multiple rural counties in Utah on Election Day.

The moral of the story? Do what you can to avoid any election issues, no matter where you live.

“Vote early. Make sure that you vote and get that counted,” Lee emphasized. “The earlier people register, the earlier they get the ballot, the easier it is to fix any issues that come up.”

To track the number of ballots processed in Utah by county, visit voteinfo.utah.gov/ballots-processed/.

ACLU Of Utah Gives Letter Grades To County Clerk Websites For Essential Election Information

According to a press release dated Oct. 27, the ACLU of Utah graded each of Utah’s county election websites “based on 18 metrics related to the current election. These measures include, ‘Register to vote information,’ ‘Information about ballot drop boxes,’ and ‘Information for voters with disabilities.’”

“When voters have questions about an election, their first point of contact should be their county clerk,” said Nikila Venugopal, voting rights manager for the ACLU of Utah, as quoted in the press release. “This reliance makes these websites essential for finding local and accurate information to help voters answer questions and solve problems. We are pleased to see so many county clerks in Utah take their role seriously by updating their websites to make this election safe, accessible and secure.”

Although a majority of Utah’s 29 counties scored well, Piute received a failing grade. Three counties received a “D” — Juab, Emery and Sanpete.

The ACLU of Utah gave the Sanpete County’s clerk webpage a “D” letter grade because most of the available election information is only posted in a PDF on a public notice webpage.

Because the county’s mail-in ballots were misprinted, a voter might expect information about the error and/or the solution to be posted online. At last check Wednesday, it was not.

More than half of Utah’s county clerk webpages received an “A+” or “A” grade by the ACLU. Counties scoring a perfect 100% include:

• Davis
• Duchesne
• Grand
• Iron
• Kane
• Salt Lake
• San Juan
• Summit
• Tooele
• Utah
• Wasatch
• Washington
• Weber

Click here to download the complete ACLU of Utah’s 2020 report and scoring index.

For more information about registering to vote or the ballot process, visit vote.utah.gov.

RESOURCES

Preparing To Vote: Crucial Deadlines & Online Information

Helpful Information From The Federal Election Commission

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Have you experienced something you think just isn’t right? The KSL Investigators want to help. Submit your tip at investigates@ksl.com or 385-707-6153 so we can get working for you.