President Donald Trump criticized Utah’s universal vote-by-mail system on Truth Social Thursday, days before the June 23 primary election.
He speculated that states with mail-in ballots “head left,” meaning politically left-wing, and that “we should stop Utah from doing this.”
Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson disputed the president’s claims on Threads. She aid 90% of Utah voters return mail-in ballots via the U.S. Postal Service or in a ballot drop box.
“A majority of Utahns appear to love both vote-by-mail and the Republican party,” she wrote.
Utah’s GOP-led Legislature has already decided to put mail-in voting under the microscope in the run-up to November.
Earlier this year, lawmakers commissioned a study being led by Justin Jones, executive director of the Gary Hebert Institute for Public Policy at Utah Valley University.
“Is it safe, is it secure, is it doing what it's supposed to do?” Jones said of the study’s goal, on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” June 19.
Jones’ team will be comparing Utah with other states such as Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, Arizona, Washington,Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, Arizona and Washington.
He has also visited with county elections officials across Utah and watched them count votes. He said it makes him more and more confident in the process.
This isn’t the first time the Herbert Institute has studied election security, and Jones said there’s “always room for improvement.”
“Ultimately, there isn't a perfect system for this, but Utah has a really good system,” Jones said. “We're really confident in the process, the procedures when followed, that Utah has a safe and sound elections process.”
Henderson said the mostly rural state of Utah went from having one of the lowest voter participation rates in the country to one of the highest after implementing mail-in voting.
Jones’ team hasn’t published any findings yet but is required to do so before the November general election.
That’s when Utah may send a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in six years.
Utah has a new, court-ordered congressional map that created a blue-leaning district in Salt Lake County.
The Utah Legislature enabled voting by mail in 2012, and all counties had adopted it by 2019.
Lawmakers reversed course in 2025 and passed a bill to phase out universal vote-by-mail. Starting in 2029, voters will need to request a mail-in ballot and won’t receive one automatically.
Another change is that mail-in ballots must now be in a drop box or arrive at the local clerk’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day to count.
That means, if a voter mails their ballot on Election Day, it may not reach the clerk in time to count.
