ELECTIONS

Your Voice Your Vote: How county clerks verify Utah ballots

Oct 21, 2024, 1:00 PM | Updated: Oct 29, 2024, 4:47 pm

Marti Martinez tabs primary election ballot envelopes to expose signatures at the Salt Lake County ...

FILE: Marti Martinez tabs primary election ballot envelopes to expose signatures at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, June 24, 2024. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

SALT LAKE CITY— Verifying a Utah ballot doesn’t begin when a completed ballot reaches a county clerk, either by mail or Dropbox.

The verification process begins before the ballot is sent.

“We make sure that the citizenship is verified as part of the registration process,” said Tooele County Clerk, Tracy Shaw. “The address itself has to be verified before the ballot is mailed.”

 

Once the ballot is completed and returned to the county clerk, the verification process continues.

Verifying voter identity by signature

Election officials in Utah and across the country use a voter’s signature as one way to ensure the ballot is legitimate. Shaw said the voter registration system holds up to five signatures for each voter. County clerks obtain them from the driver’s license office, the voter registration form, an affidavit, or a petition.

“We keep the most recent ones on hand and delete the older ones as they fall off,” Shaw said.

Why would a signature change or be different? Shaw pointed to several possibilities, including name change due to marriage, a person getting older or becoming disabled. Sometimes people just forget to sign their ballot.

If there’s a question about the signature, the ballot is pulled and “cured.”

“So, this curing process is … what the clerks follow when an envelope signature doesn’t match the signature we have on … their voter record. If we can’t match the signature, then the ballot is, quote, sick and needs to be cured,” Shaw said.

How to cure a Utah ballot

Curing a ballot involves contacting the voter to let them know there is a problem with their ballot. Utah elections officials are required to reach out to voters.

“We don’t just set them aside and say, ‘Oh, well, too bad they don’t get to vote.’ We’re required by law to reach out to them within two business days,” Shaw said.

“We can send them a letter, an email, a text, or all three. And we can also call the voter.”

Shaw called contacting the voter their top priority.

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Your Voice Your Vote: How county clerks verify Utah ballots