The Utah County Elections Office issued a public apology on Oct. 23 after mistakenly sending ballot packet inserts that incorrectly informed certain voters they must provide identification for their ballots to be counted. The notices were sent to returning voters and first-time voters who had already provided identification.
Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson stated that a clerical error led to the distribution of 6,144 notices. At least 71 of those notices went to people who had previously voted, and an unknown number of first-time voters who had already verified their identity also received them. Davidson noted that the issue has been fixed and ballots will not be rejected for voters who have already verified their identity.
Shelly Jackson, deputy state elections director, told the Salt Lake Tribune that the number of ID notices sent in a typical election is very small. Jackson noted that the lieutenant governor's office received voter complaints, and after discussions with the Utah County elections director, it was discovered the office had not checked registrations against driver's license data. Due to the timing, Jackson said there was not enough time to identify every individual who received a notice in error.
Voters who submit a ballot without the required ID will have the opportunity to cure their ballot by providing identification after the election, according to Jackson. Returning voters can ignore the insert if they have voted before, while first-time voters should only follow the instructions if they have not already satisfied the requirement.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can enroll in BallotTrax to receive notifications regarding when a ballot was received and counted by visiting trackmyballot.utah.gov/voter.
