I support Utah County’s current vote-by-mail system. I support it because it includes five extremely important elements.
Vote-by-mail is the state law. Utah Code states: “an election officer shall administer an election primarily by mail” (20A-3a-202). The County Clerk may not make the decision to change the primary form for conducting the election on their own. Any change requires a change in state code through action of the State Legislature. As part of the executive branch of government it is the responsibility of the County Clerk to administer laws, not make them.
Voter rolls are clean. The major criticisms against vote-by-mail usually center around the fact that most jurisdictions don’t keep accurate and up to date voter rolls. Several years ago, Utah County was in that position. Since that time great effort has gone into cleaning the voter rolls. The voter rolls are regularly checked against change of address reports and vital records reports to remove voters who have moved or passed away. Addresses are verified and duplicate records are searched for and corrected.
Secure drop boxes exist. If voters don’t trust the post office to safely return their ballot, they may be returned at one of the more than 20 drop box locations. Ballots are collected from the drop boxes in teams of two with security protocols including seals on the doors of drop boxes and chain of custody logs. The majority of ballots are returned through drop boxes. So while we use the term “vote-by-mail” the reality is that you get your ballot in the mail, and your voted ballot is deposited in a ballot box.
Voter matching and signature verification protocols are followed. Every ballot that is sent out has a unique barcode printed on the return envelope. It is specific to that voter and that election. When ballots are returned they are scanned to make sure that every ballot coming back matches a ballot that was sent out. It is not unusual for a ballot to be generated only to have a voter update their address requiring a second ballot to be sent. The first ballot is marked “spoiled” and if returned would be rejected by the system and not counted. Every signature is compared to the signatures on file. If a signature does not match, the voter is contacted with instructions to “cure” their ballot.
Voting centers provide an in-person back-up. Because no election method is perfect, back-up systems are necessary. The back-up to vote-by-mail are multiple voting centers where voters can go on election day for same-day registration and voting. No one will ever be turned away from a voting center without at least being offered the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot.
No voting system is perfect; each has inherent advantages and disadvantages. Rather than asking, “What voting system should we use?” we should instead be asking, “How effectively is the chosen voting system being administered? Is the system implemented in a way that maximizes the advantages and minimizes the disadvantages? Does the system have robust checks to guard against fraud?”
In Utah vote-by-mail is the law and systems are in place making it as safe and secure as it can be. As your County Clerk I will increase voter education and outreach programs to increase transparency about the ways ballots are verified and votes are counted. I will work to increase voter confidence in our election systems and processes. I will listen to concerns and engage in open dialogue. Above all I will make sure that the voting method will be administered in the most efficient, effective, and transparent manner.
