PROVO, Utah — The Utah County Attorney's Office confirms it is now investigating the county clerk over accusations he improperly tracked the ballots of some elected officials.
"The Utah County Attorney’s Office is currently investigating information provided by Sen. Mike McKell concerning the tracking of voting patterns of elected officials by Clerk Aaron Davidson," the office said in a statement to FOX 13 News on Thursday. "This inquiry aims to gather all relevant facts to determine whether any laws may have been violated. We are committed to conducting a thorough and unbiased investigation to ensure compliance with all applicable legal standards by both the Clerk's office and the County."
In an interview with FOX 13 News on Wednesday, Davidson acknowledged tracking the ballot of Sen. McKell, R-Spanish Fork, but insisted he did nothing improper. The two have feuded on social media over mail-in ballots.
"I feel the safest way is in person and then using our ballot dropboxes and then the postal service," Davidson said on Wednesday.
Sen. McKell said his ballot had been marked "private" and he questioned if laws had been broken.
On Thursday, Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, told FOX 13 News she had also been told by Davidson he had looked up the status of her ballot.
"The right to a secret ballot is essential to upholding election integrity and I believe anything that jeopardizes that should be investigated fully," she said. "I find it inappropriate that a county clerk would use his position to look up specific ballots with the purpose of collecting information on those individuals to be used against them in the political arena. That type of behavior directly undermines the concept of fair elections that are so crucial to maintaining our constitutional republic."
In his interview with FOX 13 News, Davidson defended his actions after Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner called on him to recuse himself from overseeing the election and said he collected nothing that wasn't publicly available.
"Absolutely not. I’ve taken an oath of office. I hardly ever go down in the ballot center. They process it," he said. "There is a record that is created when... the sorting machine process the ballot. That record gets created and goes on the 'has voted' record. And so everybody has access to the information if they pay the $15. I didn’t pay the $15 because I have access to the records. I don’t think there was any violation. Amelia Powers Gardner calling me to relieve myself of the duty of the clerk in processing ballots is just ridiculous."
