Ballot instructions cause confusion for voters in Utah County

PROVO — Instructions for voters in Utah County are causing confusion and uncertainty just two weeks before Election Day.

The issue stems from an instruction pamphlet that arrived with ballots across Utah County. When Highland resident Liz Rice opened it, she said it was “very confusing.”

The instructions warn that failing to provide the last four digits of a Utah driver license or state identification card number — or a social security card number — could result in that ballot “not being counted.”

“And yet,” Rice pointed out, “there was no place on the ballot to put that.”

Rice, who is both a candidate for office and a voter, said she has been “bombarded” with calls from other people who are also uncertain about the instructions. Janell Tuttle, who lives in Provo, had the same questions about her ballot.

“When I opened it up, I thought, wait, what?” Tuttle said, calling it “confusion all over.”

County clerk responds

The four-digit requirement is part of a new Utah voter ID law. That provision hasn’t taken effect yet, but counties can put a space for those digits on the ballot if they want to.

Utah County did that for the primary election in August, but county clerk Aaron Davidson didn’t like it.

“We identified 790 ballots where the signature did not match, but the four digits did,” Davidson said.

After that, Utah County took the four-digit spot off the ballot for the November election, but the county still included instructions — which had already been printed — telling voters to list that information.

“We didn’t want to go through and spend more tax money printing more instructions and not getting a discount,” Davidson said. “We figured we would just go ahead and send out the instructions the way they are and just deal with the questions during the general election.”

Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork — who helped sponsor the recent voter ID law — criticized Davidson, saying instructions for county clerks about the new law are “clear.”

“Normally, I would give someone the benefit of the doubt, but it’s hard to see this as anything other than deliberate,” McKell told KSL in a statement. “Aaron Davidson has made an effort to politicize the ballot from the day he entered office. It’s concerning that our county clerk is once again sending confusing messages to voters.”

Asked to respond to that, Davidson said McKell “doesn’t understand election integrity.” The county clerk said the Legislature needs to tighten the voter ID law so households can’t commit “forgery” by having someone improperly sign for a ballot for someone else, while still listing the correct four digits.

In the meantime, Davidson said, his office will handle the confusion around the voter instructions for the Nov. 4 election.

“Yes, it creates an issue,” he said, “but it’s not an issue that’s not overcomeable.”

Will this discourage voting?

To be clear, for this election, voters in Utah County do not need to list the last four digits of their social security or driver’s license number. Only a valid signature is required for a ballot to be counted. Davidson also said any ballots that include the four digits next to a valid signature won’t be rejected.

But both Rice and Tuttle disagree that confusion around the ballots is not a problem. They both worry any uncertainty could cause some people to skip voting altogether, especially during a municipal election year.

“That just makes people think, well, what’s going on?” Tuttle said. “Is this even worth doing?”

Rice said, even for her, she’s considering avoiding voting by mail completely this election cycle.

“I think this year I’m probably going to show up on Nov. 4 to vote (in person),” she said, “just so there’s no further confusion.”

Read more: Utah officials testing ballot reading machines ahead of election season