Legislative auditors released a new report Tuesday indicating that Utah’s chief election official has been "diligent in improving" the state’s election system. However, the audit also highlighted that some county clerks have "not fully implemented all changes" to election requirements.
The in-depth review focused on Utah, Wasatch, and San Juan counties. Auditors noted that clerks overseeing elections in these counties "can improve their efforts to follow and implement changes to election requirements." Of particular concern to auditors were "similar compliance errors we identified in previous audits," suggesting clerks either misunderstood or did not fully address corrective actions.
Despite these issues, auditors reiterated their consistent finding: no "significant fraud" has been found in Utah’s elections. Nevertheless, they concluded that "repeated deficiencies" point to a need for "greater oversight of election compliance."
Auditors noted that Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s office holds statutory authority to enforce compliance when clerks fall short but has prioritized assisting and supporting clerks. The report suggested that this "limited approach to oversight, sometimes deferring to county elected officials’ implementation decisions rather than actively monitoring and correcting noncompliance," may have contributed to recurring errors seen across multiple audits.
In Utah County, the state's second-most populous county, the audit stated that the office, most recently headed by Clerk Aaron Davidson, "generally conducts its elections well." However, auditors observed instances where the clerk and staff did not fully comply with specific election requirements. These included not fully adhering to requirements for reviewing candidate nomination signature packets and, in some cases, gathering missing information indirectly rather than rejecting incomplete packets. Auditors also found that some volunteers did not take state-required training before conducting post-election audits, and poll workers inconsistently accepted or rejected documents for proof of residency, potentially impacting some provisional voters.
Additionally, auditors reported that Davidson and his elections director "did not create policies or procedures to avoid a conflict of interest when processing candidate nomination petitions." This was noted because Davidson was on the ballot for the 2026 primary election. State administrative rules require county clerks to develop a written audit policy and designate another elected official to conduct audits for races where a conflict of interest could exist. While Davidson did not involve himself in the signature audit, the audit was performed by the elections director and an elections administrator rather than a separate elected official, a requirement Davidson’s office indicated it was unaware of.
Davidson, in a written response to the audit, disagreed with the findings, criticizing them as "nitpicking." He stated that this level of scrutiny could make it harder to find and retain qualified election workers and argued that performance audits should identify issues that meaningfully improve systems, not minor human errors within a complex system. Auditors, in turn, acknowledged human error but emphasized that the observed mistakes were "repeat errors that appeared in prior audits and that have been made by multiple clerks," calling the pattern concerning and expecting improvement.
For Wasatch County, the audit noted "several relatively minor shortcomings in processes," specifically mentioning issues with ballot chain of custody, reconciliation, and election audits within the office headed by Clerk-Auditor Joey Granger.
Lt. Gov. Henderson responded to the audit, stating it "strikes at the heart of the balance between state oversight of elections and the actions of independently elected county officials." She detailed her office’s efforts, including visiting each of the three counties, providing training, and offering other resources to help correct mistakes. Henderson also pointed to the "numerous legislative changes" made by the Utah Legislature each year, noting that this makes successful implementation of new election laws challenging. She specifically cited last year’s HB300, which passed without funding for a full-time employee to assist with its implementation. Henderson expressed a desire for time to fully implement and assess new laws before substantial new changes are made, believing this would reduce voter confusion, human error, and save taxpayer dollars.
Auditors credited Henderson’s office with following recommendations from previous reports in 2022 and 2024 to improve the state’s election system, even as they observed county clerks repeating errors and struggling to implement new requirements. They reiterated that while no significant fraud was found, ensuring continued election integrity requires proper use of election controls and improved oversight of compliance.
