Gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman listens to proceedings during a court hearing in West Jordan in an effort to obtain Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s signatures, on Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Pool photo by Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune)
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s unsuccessful Republican challenger, Rep. Phil Lyman, announced last week that his campaign had “filed official notice contesting” the results of the 2024 primary — but a letter Utah New Dispatch obtained from the Utah Supreme Court on Monday shows his filing was rejected because it failed to follow proper procedures.
“Please be aware that a proper filing under the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure is necessary,” a clerk for the Utah Supreme Court wrote in a letter to the Lyman campaign dated July 25, in response to his July 19 letter titled “Official notice of contest of the 2024 Utah primary election.”
“If you wish to file a petition for extraordinary relief, the petition must comply with the specific content and service requirements in Rule 19 of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure, as well as include payment of the $375.00 filing fee or submission of an appropriate application and affidavit to waive fees,” the clerk’s letter states. “I am unable to accept your letter and it is being returned to you.”
Lyman and his campaign on Monday did not immediately respond to questions regarding whether they still plan to contest the election or if they’re working on a revised filing.
Lyman will contest election results, as judge denies his request for voter information
Lyman’s July 19th letter declared he was contesting the election, stating, “I and the Lyman campaign have made all efforts to obtain election returns including Cast Vote Record (CVR), tabulator information, ballot images, tabulator tapes, and back up project databases for all 29 Utah Counties.”
His letter notes Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson has “advised counties not to provide these records” — which is true, given they’re not classified as public records.
“We believe that there are votes recorded in the various counties that would not stand up to a verification process,” Lyman wrote. “We cannot perform the verification process without access to these very basic records, none of which disclose personally identifiable information.”’
“This letter,” Lyman concluded, “stands as my official contest of the election results.”
However as of Monday, given the court rejected his letter, Lyman still hadn’t officially contested the results.
While Lyman has criticized the lieutenant governor’s office for its classification of the records as private, a separate office — the Davis County Clerk’s Office — verified Cox’s campaign’s candidate signatures, along with petitions for 31 other candidates.
Four days before the June 25 primary, Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie issued a statement affirming “each signature was reviewed by trained election workers and either validated or rejected in accordance with the requirements” set by Utah law, and that each candidate who qualified submitted a sufficient number of valid signatures. McKenzie’s statement also outlined the process for verifying signatures.
Under Rule 19, a petition for extraordinary relief must contain the following:
A list of all respondents against whom relief is sought, and all others persons or entities, by name or by class, whose interests might be substantially affected;
a statement of the issues presented and of the relief sought;
a statement of the facts necessary to understand the issues presented by the petition;
a statement of the reasons why no other plain, speedy, or adequate remedy exists and why the relief should be granted;
when the subject of the petition is an interlocutory order, a statement explaining whether a petition for interlocutory appeal has been filed and, if so, summarize its status or, if not, why interlocutory appeal is not a plain, speedy, or adequate remedy;
except in cases where the petition is directed to a district court, a statement explaining why it is impractical or inappropriate to file the petition in the district court;
a discussion of points and authorities in support of the petition; and
copies of any order or opinion or parts of the record that may be essential to understand the matters set forth in the petition.
Why is Lyman trying to contest the election?
While Lyman won his place on the primary ballot with support from Utah Republican Party delegates, Cox used Utah’s alternative candidacy path by gathering enough signatures to qualify. Throughout his campaign, Lyman has criticized Cox for qualifying that way, appealing to delegates who believe delegate nomination should be candidates’ only path to the ballot.
Lyman lost to Cox by 37,525 votes, with 45.6% to Cox’s 54.4%, according to official election results certified last week.
Utah’s 2024 primary election results are certified — but recount, other challenges loom
However, Lyman has continued to seek to undermine election results by attempting to question the validity of Cox’s candidacy without evidence.
Last week, a 3rd District Court judge rejected Lyman’s urgent request to inspect an unredacted list of GOP voters who offered their signature so that Cox and two other candidates could get on the primary ballot. The judge ruled Lyman’s attorneys “failed to meet the very high bar required” for such an immediate request.
With the denial, Lyman’s lawsuit faces an uphill battle. Though it’s still ongoing, it’s unclear whether it will be resolved before Sept. 6, the deadline for candidates to get their name on the general election ballot, which Lyman’s attorney has previously called the “drop dead” date for a legal challenge.
More challenges coming
Lyman isn’t the only candidate who plans to contest the election.
While election results have been certified, the Republican contest for 2nd Congressional District remains in flux. Rep. Celeste Maloy won by a mere 214 votes — placing her race within recount territory for her Republican challenger, Colby Jenkins.
Jenkins’ campaign plans to call a recount at some point on Monday, with a deadline of 5 p.m.
Raising concerns about hundreds of ballots that were disqualified in southern Utah for missing postmarking deadlines, Jenkins’ campaign has also said it plans to contest the election in a separate legal challenge with the Utah Supreme Court, though that challenge is still forthcoming.
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