Don’t trust your local election? Visit your polling place and see for yourself

SALT LAKE CITY — Have doubts or feel less than confident about the integrity, security and/or transparency of your local election? An ex-clerk says come on down to your polling place during an election and take a look for yourself.

Utah County Commissioner and former county Clerk and Auditor Amelia Powers Gardiner joins Inside Sources host Boyd Matheson to talk about the safety of local elections amid a climate of fear among election workers.

Gardiner said at the Utah County election office, holes were cut into the walls, windows and continuously running cameras were installed for news crews, poll watchers and citizens who wish to come and see the ballots tabulated on Election Day.

Go check out voting safeguards 

Don’t be part of the problem by spouting rhetoric that only divides. Instead go visit your county clerk’s office, she advised.

“I don’t know of a single county clerk in the state who wouldn’t love to have citizens come and see how they process the ballot,” Gardiner said. “Election integrity and election security isn’t something new to us. We’ve been doing this for decades.”

Every election in the country is a local election, she said. Ballots aren’t counted in Washington, D.C., or even the state Capitol.

People who work at a local election live in your community

“And the people who work those elections, they’re your neighbors, they’re your friends, they’re people who live in the community and care about our community,” Gardiner said.

She also said that election workers are in fear, concerned about their safety. She said an election worker came to her last week to ask if he could get a bulletproof vest to wear while collecting ballots from drop boxes throughout the county.

“That floored me,” she said.

“Absolutely unacceptable in any way, shape or form, rhetoric or not,” Boyd replied. He reminded listeners that the local elections matter more than national elections.

“It is these local elections that are going to impact your life, your world, your family, your community more than anything that goes on in our nation’s capital,” he said.

Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson can be heard weekdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app. 

Read more:

• Lawmakers want audit of Utah election results, state leaders say no statewide fraud
• Utah Rep. who called for Utah election audit resigns