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SALT LAKE CITY — Your mail-in ballots should be signed, sealed and delivered — in that order.
But that's not what the state election office says in its 72-page voter information pamphlet.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Weinholtz said he's concerned that people following the state election office's instructions may get confused and that thousands of ballots could be invalidated because of the discrepancy.
"The instructions for filling out the ballot are somewhere between confusing and just flat-out wrong," Weinholtz said. "It's somewhere between foul play and incompetence. Either way, it could negatively impact our election here in Utah."
The state elections office, which is overseen by the office of Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, directs Utahns to mark their ballots, seal it in the envelope, and then sign the outside of the envelope.
But many counties — including Salt Lake, Davis and Weber — require voters to sign the inside of the envelope before sealing it.
Mark Thomas, the state's elections director, said he's "not sure there's any real issue."
He pointed out that each ballot is mailed out with county-specific instructions that clearly direct voters to sign before sealing.
"It's hard to miss that you need to sign it," Thomas said.
Even if a voter forgets to do so, county clerks are required to notify voters if there is an issue with their ballot so that they can correct it, according to Thomas.
Nevertheless, he said it's a good reminder for voters to double-check that they have signed their ballots before mailing them in.
It's somewhere between foul play and incompetence. Either way, it could negatively impact our election here in Utah.
–Mike Weinholtz, Utah democratic gubernatorial candidate
"Obviously, we're in the political season where people will try to make big issues out of things that just aren't, and that's fine," Thomas said. "Our job is to ensure voters have the information that they need."
Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen and other county election officials said the ballots and envelopes are marked with a number of hard-to-ignore signs — including red typeface and stop sign icons — to remind voters where to sign.
"I can’t imagine that someone is going to go to page 67 of the lieutenant governor’s voter guide and ignore the instructions provided in each ballot packet that we send," she said.
But Weinholtz's running mate, Kim Bowman, pointed out that some local elections have been decided by as little as 50 votes.
"There are 130,000 of these printed pamphlets around," Bowman said. "Every senior center I've been to, people have been using them. People have been actively using this information for weeks.
"If even one person has an invalidated ballot because of this, I think that is not just disappointing, it's a violation of one of the most important parts of our democracy," Bowman added.
A spokesman for Gov. Gary Herbert, who is running against Weinholtz, directed questions to the state elections office.
The deadline to register to vote by mail has passed. Utahns can still register to vote online at voter.utah.gov or in person at their county clerk's office up to seven days before the election, which takes place Nov. 8.
Mail-in ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 7.
Those who live in a county that is not conducting its election entirely by mail can also cast their ballots in person or drop off their mail-in ballots at a designated polling location on Election Day.
Visit vote.utah.gov for more information.
Contributing: Ladd Egan
Email: dchen@deseretnews.comTwitter: DaphneChen_
