MANTI, Utah — More than 13,000 registered voters in Sanpete County received ballots without a designated area for a signature.
Mail-in ballots in Utah are required to be signed by the person who is voting before the ballot can be counted.
“There was no space for that anywhere,” said Tiffany Johnson of Gunnison. “A lot of us are pretty worried about it. It’s nothing we have ever seen before. We have always signed on the exteriors.”
According to Sanpete County Clerk Sandy Neill, the omission was an error that occurred at the printing facility.
“We had all five phones ringing in the office with questions,” Neill said. “It’s a nightmare to have happen. People are concerned about elections. We’ve assured them that we have this down.”
Voters are directed to sign the back of a perforated 2-inch by 4-inch section of their return envelope. That is the area that was meant to be marked for a signature.
The printer who made the error will soon be sending a notecard to voters with detailed instructions.
Neill says despite this error, the clerk’s office will go through painstaking efforts to make sure every ballot is verified and counted.
“We’ll contact the voter and make it right and find a way to get that signature here,” Neill said. “We’ll take care of it. We won’t let votes not count.”
