The Summit County Clerk’s Office said it has identified five voters who cast ballots in both the Republican and Democratic primary elections. Legally residents can only vote once.
Court documents show that in each suspected case, voters were mailed ballots corresponding with their registered party, then requested the other party’s ballot and cast both.
In Utah, Republican primaries are closed. Democratic primaries are open, and anyone can request a ballot. But it’s illegal for voters to cast both ballots.
One registered Republican, who asked not to be identified by name, told KPCW investigators contacted his wife last month and told her about the alleged double votes. He said he didn’t know the primaries were either-or.
“It really wasn't voting twice: it was voting once in the Democratic primary and once in the Republican primary,” the Summit County man said.
The voter said he’s never voted in a Democratic primary and didn’t consider it until hearing about open primaries on the news. The man said he and his wife were interested in the Democratic race for Summit County Council seat C.
They didn’t know casting two ballots is a class A misdemeanor under Utah law, punishable by up to a year in jail and fines.
The voter KPCW spoke with said he intends to follow the law going forward.
None of the five people accused of casting multiple ballots had been charged as of Aug. 13, but Summit County Sheriff’s Sgt. Felcia Sotelo said the investigation is ongoing.
The online form voters use to request a ballot from the county clerk’s office doesn’t say it’s illegal to cast multiple ballots, but Summit County Chief Deputy Clerk Amy Price said the office notifies voters in numerous other ways, including over the phone.
“While we have you on the phone, if ballots have gone out, we go into the system and we mark that one ineligible, even before we send out a new one for you,” Price said.
Voters who request a ballot over email are told they may only vote in one primary too.
A clerk’s email reviewed by KPCW reads: “Please note, voters may only vote in one primary election, and we had already requested a Republican ballot to be mailed to you. That ballot has been marked as not countable and a new, Democratic ballot will be mailed to you within the next week.”
But the clerks do allow voters to change their mind.
When the office receives two ballots from the same person, Summit County Clerk Eve Furse said they only count the first ballot that’s returned.
Voting machines automate the ballot counting process. That’s why the clerks are confident the election results the county council ratified July 9 are correct.
“Very confident,” Price said. “When those [double votes] come in, the system flags us that this person has already voted.”
There were 7,834 ballots cast in the June 25 primary in Summit County. About 5,000 of those were Republican, and 2,600 were Democratic.
Overall voter turnout was 43%.
