“Hi, Utah! In the spirit of the holiday season, the state elections team is launching a festive new initiative to highlight some of the ways our office has strengthened Utah elections over the past four years.
There won’t be any pipers piping or ladies dancing, but for 12 days, we will feature a different election improvement on our website and social media platforms. We invite you to follow along, learn more, and join us in celebrating the strides we’ve made together, because the election may be over, but in Utah, every year is election year. Stay tuned—and happy holidays!”
~ Lieutenant Governor Henderson
Day 12: Vote Certification
Through partnership between the Lt. Governor’s office and Weber State University, courses provided in a variety of election related topics through the Olene S. Walker VOTE Certificate help to prepare current and future election workers with the skills needed to carry out elections in Utah.
Day 11: Quarterly Registration Audits
For the last year, the Lt. Governor’s office has been doing quarterly registration audits. These audits ensure that counties are correctly inputting the information from voter registration forms into the state voter database. Since beginning these audits, we have seen significant improvements in the accuracy of Utah’s voter rolls with over 50% of counties having zero findings in the most recent audit.
Day 10: Standard Canvass Documents
When counties are ready to certify their election, they fill out a standardized form with information regarding ballots received, challenged and rejected. This report allows voters and the state to easily see the numerical breakdown of ballots for a specific county. This can help in addressing potential problems and in verifying numbers for the state canvass. It also helps clerks to more easily fill out required documentation after any federal election.
Day 9: Online Trainings
Last year, the Lt. Governor’s office hired a full-time trainer with 25 years of election experience to help election workers receive needed training on a variety of important topics, including, signature verification and adjudication with more to come. Additionally, during election season, county and state election officials will meet weekly to address any updates in standards and review policy and guidelines that have been set. This is a great time for clerks to collaborate and get any questions they may have answered.
Day 8: Elections Handbook
The Office of the Lieutenant Governor has created an Elections Handbook to ensure elections are administered fairly and securely in the state of Utah. This handbook outlines Utah Code and policies that counties must adhere to, while also including various tips to promote election integrity across the state. Each County Clerk and their elections staff is required to read and be familiar with this handbook.
Day 7: Voter List Maintenance
Voter rolls are rigorously maintained throughout the year to ensure that the list is accurate and up to date. Clerks must certify each month that they are staying up to date on voter list maintenance, which includes the following. Deceased voters are promptly removed using weekly updates from the Office of Vital Records, and any ballots sent before their passing are deactivated. All voter registration forms are processed within 7 days of receipt. All duplicate voter checks have been performed and before any election a National Change of Address has to be processed to help ensure that voters ballots are going to the right place.
Day 6: County Liaison Program/Oversight
The Lieutenant Governor’s Office has implemented a statewide County Liaison program where election coordinators from the state elections office are assigned to counties across the state. The coordinators are in regular contact with the counties to answer questions, make sure their needs are met, and coordinate county visits quarterly, among other things.
Day 5: Ballot Drop Box Cameras
Per state law, each county is required to have a ballot drop box in each municipality within the county. This makes returning your ballot quick, easy, and secure. Each drop box also has 24/7 video surveillance.
Day 4: Hash Validation
Hash values are digital fingerprints created by performing a mathematical operation on the data. Any change in just one byte of data comprising the computer program or digital file will change the hash value. Hash values must be validated to ensure that everything matches. If something doesn’t match, the program has been changed in some way, and whether malicious or not you should proceed with caution.
Day 3: Signature & Post-Election Audits
Throughout the ballot processing time-period, but before ballots can be separated from their envelope to be tabulated, a 1% signature verification audit must be performed to ensure that election workers are properly performing signature verification. This allows the election officer to address any issues before tabulation.
After every election, the election officer holds an audit to ensure that ballots were properly counted. Races of every level (Federal, State, County etc.), and any within 5% at that time are audited. 15 minutes before the audit begins the Lt. Governor’s office assigns random batches of ballots to be hand counted. Everything is handled in pairs and only one member of a pair can be a full-time clerk’s office employee. Additionally, members of the public are invited to come and watch.
Day 2: State Election Results Website
The new state Enhanced Results website displays the results for every race and ballot question all in one spot. It also has downloadable Excel reports, and results by county and precinct. It’s the place to go on election night every year for the information you want most.
Day 1: Pillars of Election Security
Voter Registration Safeguards – Utah has robust systems to ensure voter registration and election integrity. Voters must provide a valid Utah driver’s license or the last four digits of their Social Security number, verified through state databases, to register. The system prevents duplicates through weekly and pre-election checks. Address changes are updated automatically through driver’s license updates or the National Change of Address database, with ballots mailed only to active voters. Clerks verify voter precincts using mapping services to prevent misassignments. Non-citizens and ineligible individuals face strict verification processes, including affidavit certification, with severe penalties for fraudulent registration or voting.
Voter Equipment Safeguards – Before every election, clerks must perform a Logic and Accuracy test. This is done by running test decks of ballots covering every scenario of votes through tabulating equipment to ensure that ballots will be counted correctly. During the election, anytime a clerk employee is doing anything with a voted ballot, there must be at least 2 employees present. Additionally, the equipment that counts votes is NEVER connected to the internet, preventing anyone with unauthorized access from getting in. All of these safeguards help to prevent any sort of manipulation.
Ballot Processing Safeguards – Ballots received by the County Clerks are carefully accounted for and processed. A direct chain of custody is maintained throughout the process and ballots are never handled by any one individual. Every ballot and voter is assigned a unique number for that election, this prevents extra ballots from being added into the mix, and voters from receiving multiple active ballots.
Voter Responsibility Safeguards – In Utah, we encourage voters to be involved by participating in and observing the election process. Voters are able to track their ballot to ensure that it is received and counted by the clerk by signing up on trackmyballot.utah.gov. Additionally, members of the public can observe the pre-election Logic and Accuracy test, ballot processing, signature verification, and audits. We encourage voters who have questions about the election process in Utah to reach out to their county clerk and learn more about the safeguards in place.
