Utah Judge Jay Winward rejected on Monday a request from Colby Jenkins’ campaign to require the Washington County Clerk to turn over a list of 433 voters whose ballots were rejected because of mismatched signatures.
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The Jenkins campaign filed a lawsuit Friday, hoping to get the names of voters whose ballots weren’t counted so they could contact those voters and encourage them to “cure” their ballots. Jenkins won Washington County over incumbent U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy 59% to 41%, making it the likeliest area for him to cut further into Maloy’s lead in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District Republican primary election.
The margin district-wide iscurrently 314 votes out of just under 107,000 counted, according to unofficial totals.
“In this case, reading this statute, I think the Legislature meant it to be broad,” Winard said while ruling from the bench, leaving the discretion to Washington County Clerk Ryan Sullivan. “It’s very clear to me this is how it is supposed to occur.”
Winward also said, though, that by raising the issue, Jenkins’ campaign has put Washington County voters on notice that they should check with the clerk to make sure their ballots had been counted and fix any problems with their votes.
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