Vote Watch: Having A Friend Or Spouse Fill Out Your Ballot Runs Against Utah Voting Law
Oct 29, 2020, 7:44 AM | Updated: 7:44 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – If you can’t decide who to vote for, you may phone a friend.
But whatever you do, don’t ask your friend to fill out your ballot or you may be guilty of voter fraud.
Even if you give someone else permission to fill out your ballot, you are breaking the rules.
As mail-in ballots flood into election offices in record numbers, election officials are looking closely at the signatures. That’s how they make sure there isn’t any voter fraud.
But it raises an interesting question we got from a KSL viewer: Can you give somebody else permission to fill out your ballot for you?
The answer we got from Salt Lake County’s Chief Deputy Clerk, Lannie Chapman, was, “No, you cannot.”
She said election officials recognize it can be a fine line between asking somebody who they are voting for versus handing somebody your ballot and asking them to just fill it out for you. But legally, it’s an important distinction.
“You’re not allowed to do it,” explained Chapman. “You are not allowed under Utah law.”
Chapman said they know people may be confused about the rule. So, when elections officials suspect, say, a wife filled out her husband’s ballot, they’ll reach out to the voter and ask them to verify their vote. But if they learn a ballot was filled out without the knowledge of the voter – it could mean criminal charges.
“It’s important. We want to make sure that our voters understand the secrecy of the ballot and the safety and security of the election system and process,” Chapman explained.
VOTE WATCH
If you see something in the next couple of weeks or on Election Day that doesn’t seem quite right, you’ve got an advocate in the KSL Investigators. You can let us know about by clicking on the Vote Watch section on the home page of this website, KSLTV.com, or by calling/texting 385-707-6153.
