Legislative audit finds signature errors for Cox, Brown, Curtis but says ballot access requirements met

Oct 15, 2024, 4:39 PM | Updated: 5:23 pm

The performance audit presented to the legislative audit subcommittee Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, sampled 1,000 signatures from each candidate and found that each had some signatures accepted that should have been rejected and likewise had signatures rejected. (KSL TV)

(KSL TV)

BY LINDSAY AERTS, KSL TV

KSLNewsRadio

SALT LAKE CITY — A legislative audit has found some errors in the number of signatures gathered to qualify three statewide Republican candidates for the ballot: Gov. Spencer Cox, attorney general candidate Derek Brown, and candidate for Senate, John Curtis. However, the report is clear that each candidate met requirements to qualify for the ballot based on the Davis County clerk’s verification of those signatures.

“Subjectivity in signature verification standards poses a risk to correctly verifying signatures,” the report states. “This risk highlights the need for further clarification of signature verification standards.”

The performance audit presented to the legislative audit subcommittee Tuesday sampled 1,000 signatures from each candidate and found that each had some signatures accepted that should have been rejected and likewise had signatures rejected that should have been accepted when the Davis County Clerk’s office was validating their signatures packets on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office.

In total, it found that if the rates of signature error were applied to the total 28,000 signatures required for statewide office, Cox would have had 572 erroneous signatures, Curtis 400, and Brown 140.

Cox, Curtis, and Brown called for the audit after repeated claims of improprieties and a court challenge by now write-in candidate for governor, Rep. Phil Lyman. Lyman has alleged malfeasance by the Cox campaign and the company they and others used to gather those signatures. Lyman sued to get access to the signature names and addresses of voters who signed Cox and others’ petitions but has so far been denied, largely because voters have chosen to have their information kept private, preventing the names from being released.