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MANILA, Utah (AP) -- The Utah attorney general's office says it won't file criminal charges against the Daggett County sheriff after investigating allegations of voter fraud.
A police report says a relative of Sheriff Rick Ellsworth told police that he asked her to register to vote for him the in 2006 election in Daggett County, even though he knew she didn't live there.
Ellsworth's attorney, Gerry D'Elia, denied the allegation that the sheriff encouraged out-of-county residents to vote.
"If these people asked (if they could vote), he informed them to go to the clerk and see if they qualify," D'Elia said.
Scott Reed, chief of the Utah attorney general's criminal justice division, said there isn't sufficient information to support charges.
Ellsworth won re-election by 20 votes.
Questions about the election began after Democrat Allen Campbell, then the incumbent sheriff, complained before voting started that the county's voter rolls included people who didn't live in the county.
Earlier this year, about 50 people were charged with misdemeanors for illegally registering to vote in the county. A few have been convicted but most of the cases are scheduled to be dismissed in 2009 if the defendants complete probation.
Reed said there wasn't enough evidence of organized fraud to support other charges.
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
