SALT LAKE CITY — The Office of the Utah State Auditor will conduct what it calls a "limited review" of the state's election process after a summer filled with accusations of impropriety by at least one candidate who lost a primary earlier this year.
State Auditor John Dougall announced Tuesday that the review will focus only on certain aspects of the election process, "including controls over and disclosure of voter registration information as well as the validation process associated with signature-gathering by candidates."
Separately, a group of several GOP candidates, including Gov. Spencer Cox and U.S. Senate candidate John Curtis, asked for a legislative audit of the signature gathering process used by the Davis County Clerk's Office. The process has been brought into focus by some who question how signatures are gathered to get candidates on the primary ballot who didn't receive enough support at the state's GOP convention this spring.
The candidate group also includes Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and Attorney General candidate Derek Brown.
"We believe this audit will confirm that proper signature verification laws and procedures were followed," the group wrote in a statement. “We commend our county election officials for the work they do — especially the Davis County Clerk’s Office who counted and verified all signatures in statewide and multi-county races.
“We trust our county clerks and are committed to addressing any issues found to enhance the process.”
