Gov. Cox asks for audit of signature-gathering process amid Lyman’s continued challenges

SALT LAKE CITY — As Phil Lyman continues his fight to be governor of Utah, Gov. Spencer Cox has called for an audit of the Davis County Clerk’s Office’s processing of signatures his campaign gathered to get him on last June’s Republican primary ballot.

“We believe this audit will confirm that proper signature verification laws and procedures were followed,” Cox said in a statement with his running mate, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, and two other Republican candidates vying in separate races this cycle. Cox defeated Lyman in the June primary and now faces Democrat Brian King on Nov. 5 in the gubernatorial contest.

Lyman, however, who hasn’t given up his electoral bid and is now vying for as a write-in hopeful, issued his own statement via X in response, expressing skepticism. He doesn’t think Cox garnered enough signatures to secure a place on the ballot in June, he said Tuesday, but didn’t state the basis for the contention.

“Announcing an audit of ‘the process’ is a smokescreen,” said Lyman, a member of the Utah House from Blanding. He called the audit request jointly put forward Monday by Cox, U.S. Senate hopeful and current U.S. Rep. John Curtis and Derek Brown, who’s vying for the Utah attorney general post, “theatrics.”

The turn of events is the latest in response to Lyman’s continued push to become governor of Utah. He lost to Cox in the GOP primary on June 25 by a 54.4% to 45.6% margin, but he most notably has raised questions about the signatures Cox gathered from the public to get on the ballot and sought release of the information. While Cox gathered signatures on petitions to get on the ballot, as allowed in state law, Lyman secured a place after garnering support of state GOP members at the Utah Republican Party nominating convention last April.

Monday’s short statement from Cox, Henderson, Curtis and Brown — all of whom are Republican — didn’t reference Lyman in asking for the audit of the efforts of the Davis County Clerk’s Office. The office, contracted by the state, reviewed and processed the signatures and petitions the three campaigns submitted to secure places on the Republican primary ballot.

Likewise, Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie said he hadn’t been given a specific reason for the calling of the audit, though he has no problem with the request.

“I welcome this audit. I reaffirm that each signature was reviewed by trained election workers and either validated or rejected in accordance with the requirements set forth by Utah law, and I echo the statement that ‘we believe this audit will confirm that proper signature verification laws and procedures were followed,'” McKenzie said in his own statement.

Utah State Auditor John Dougall issued a statement Tuesday saying he’d be carrying out a review of the election process, though he didn’t reference Lyman’s efforts or Cox’s audit call.

Dougall “will conduct a limited review of certain aspects of the state’s election process, including controls over and disclosure of voter registration information as well as the validation process associated with signature-gathering by candidates,” reads the statement. “Upon completion of the review, a report containing any findings and recommendations will be issued.”

Cox’s statement said he had asked for “a legislative audit,” presumably by the Office of the Legislative Auditor General, which is distinct from the state auditor’s office.