Sat. Nov 2nd, 2024

Voters walk into cast their ballots at the Center Point Church on Nov. 8, 2022 in Orem, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)

When Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson publicly revealed the voting method of a lawmaker, it prompted an investigation from the county attorney and calls from a predecessor to recuse from his functions this election cycle. Now, some mail-in voters are questioning whether their ballots will be counted.

The controversy started when Davidson, who has asked voters to prioritize drop boxes and in-person voting over mail-in ballots, said he kept track of how public officials vote, and even provided names. Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, for example, didn’t put a stamp on his ballot last election, Davidson told The Deseret News.

Tracking that information was described as “voter intimidation” by Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner, also Utah County’s previous county clerk.

“It’s incredibly abnormal. It’s not only abnormal, it’s inappropriate. He should be worried about counting the votes and ensuring that every person who has a right to vote has the opportunity to do so in whatever way works best for them,” Powers Gardner told Utah News Dispatch.

However, Davidson defends his statements, arguing that voting methods aren’t private information. 

“Anybody can go to a drop box and watch who drops their mail-in (ballot) in a drop box,” Davidson said Thursday. “This whole controversy is completely made up. It’s just Michael McKell trying to make drama out of what’s not drama, It’s public information.” 

McKell said this is not only about him, as Davidson reached out to other lawmakers such as Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, to tell them he knew their voting method.

“The other thing that is really troubling to me is that my voter file is private. Initially, he can’t disclose that I even voted. That’s a violation of statute,” McKell said. “And, I don’t think it’s maybe a violation of statute. I think it’s black and white, a violation of statute. He cannot disclose that I voted at all because my voter file is private.”

Davidson disagreed. He said anyone could track some voter information, such as ballot type and date with the “Has Voted Subscription.” He added he only tracked the voting method of just a few politicians. According to his comments, Davidson bases his decisions on who he tracks on personal interactions.

“It’s just a couple of them, the people that are vocal about me not putting stamps or me not paying for postage,” Davidson said.

With a ballot-sorting machine, his office tracks a number associated with the envelopes that contain the ballots, he explained. 

“When his ballot came through, our system logged it as ‘Mike McKell voted on a specific date,’ and it tracks how they returned the ballot,” Davidson said. “I never saw the ballot, I never opened the ballot, I never pulled the ballot out. My staff does that.”

Targeting politicians Davidson disagrees with, McKell said, makes it worse.

“It’s almost a threat that he’s made. He’s going to look at my ballot as a way to call me out and hold me accountable,” McKell said. “I use a legal method of voting. The vast majority of Utahns support mail-in voting, and he wants to call me out for exercising my constitutional right.” 

McKell was also skeptical of the process described by Davidson.

“I have zero confidence that he didn’t look at how I voted, as well,” he said. “I’ve talked to some folks about the process in the election office. To isolate my ballot takes a significant amount of work. Aaron Davidson is misrepresenting it as a simple process. Simply pay $15 to get that kind of data. That gets you aggregate data, but to isolate and individualize my ballot took a lot of work.”

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While Davidson denies any wrongdoing, the County Attorney’s Office called him inquiring about the incident, which he believes won’t result in any criminal consequences. 

The Utah County Attorney’s Office confirmed it received a report of Davidson tracking the voting method of some elected officials.

“The Utah County Attorney’s Office is conducting a preliminary investigation into that report and reviewing the applicable laws to determine whether any law was violated,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement. “That investigation is expected to take some time.”

The results of that preliminary investigation will determine if further digging is needed and whether the Utah County Attorney’s Office will keep conducting it or refer it to another agency.

But for Powers Gardner, potentially violating elected officials’ privacy rights should still be investigated, especially in a climate in which elections are under much scrutiny. But, there may not be time to conduct a thorough investigation before Election Day on Tuesday.

“Which is one reason I asked him to recuse himself from this election, let himself step away, let the professionals in the office focus on doing the job,” she said. “And then that would give assurance to the individuals who are nervous that their rights have been violated, that things were going to happen in a non-political neutral manner in the office.”

Davidson defended himself on Thursday, saying he saw no reason to recuse himself from his duties.

Mail-in ballots will count with or without stamp, Utah County clerk says

After the controversy, Powers Gardner said some voters in the county have contacted her with questions on whether their mail-in ballots will be discriminated against.  

Utah County doesn’t prepay the postage to send ballots. But the postal service will return them even if they’re missing stamps, since there are federal laws against poll taxes. That includes Utah County.

Davidson said on Thursday that votes without postage will be counted. However, he has advised residents to pay the $0.73 for the stamp “for the convenience” and leave the free mailing for those who really need it. About 75% of mail-in voters do put a stamp on their ballots, he said.

“If you can afford it, why raise the cost of running the election and making other taxpayers pay for your convenience?,” he said.

Powers Gardner believes that distinction shouldn’t be made.

“It shouldn’t matter how you return your ballot. It shouldn’t matter if you’re sick that day, if you are busy, if you’re a single mom working two jobs, if you’re an elderly person who’s confined to their house,” she said. “Whether or not you can find a stamp, you still have a right to vote, and you should be able to, and the clerk should not be discriminating nor segregating your votes because of it.”

It will take a long time for Utah County residents to regain trust in the office, she said. She, herself, is on edge about it.

“I have not returned my ballot yet, and I was this morning telling someone that I don’t know if I should put it in a drop box so that I don’t hit his hit list because I actually want my vote to count,” she said, “or whether or not I should put it in the mail just to see if he tries to shame me, because I’ve heard he’s harassing other people, and I think that’s voter intimidation.”

However, both Powers Gardner and McKell advised voters to track their ballots to make sure they were counted.

McKell also questioned Davidson’s neutrality, as the clerk posted a letter on social media asking for Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson to be prosecuted after the highly controversial gubernatorial primary election, which, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, fired up write-in candidate Phil Lyman’s followers. On social media, some of Lyman’s supporters called for Henderson to be executed, which lawmakers, including McKell, condemned.

“I trust our election system, but this is really a difficult one for me, because we do have a clerk who’s politicizing an election,” McKell said. “I agree with Commissioner Gardner he should recuse himself. His actions show a clear bias.”

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