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LOGAN — Staff members from Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson's office on Tuesday presented the Cache County Council with a report on their investigation into the November 2023 Cache County municipal primary and general election, finding no evidence of election fraud but numerous significant vulnerabilities to the processes in place at that time.
Ryan Cowley, election director from Henderson's office, said the review "exposed numerous and multiple violations of Utah election law, administrative rule, the Utah election handbook, and basic principles of election administration."
No evidence of election fraud was discovered, Cowley said, but the audit found wide vulnerabilities with "pretty much nonexistent" chain of custody controls. The team pointed to a case where the Cache County clerk's office was using a Google spreadsheet with ballot information, and sharing information with a large group of people outside of county-owned devices, instead of the approved election software.
Another significant issue of concern involved the batching practices used with ballots. Cowley said there was no ability to reconcile ballot counts to a known number, opening up the opportunity for ballots to not be scanned, or to be scanned twice. No evidence of fraud was found, Cowley reiterated, but these shortcomings open up serious opportunities in the future for bad actors if not addressed.
Cowley also addressed the two employees who were placed on administrative leave, only saying that the employees provided the state elections office with falsified logic and accuracy test reports, but these did not impact the election. The investigation into this action is still ongoing.
The report found issues with incorrect write-in sections of ballots in the towns of Paradise and Amalga, calling these errors in communication "unprecedented."
"The good news is," said Cowley, "all these things are curable."
Henderson, in a letter to Cache County Clerk David Benson, called the findings "deeply troubling," and said that through "widespread violations of Utah election law and administrative rule" Benson displayed "pointed disregard for policy and practices established by my office."
Benson was given 31 recommendations and is required to provide a written response by Feb. 20 with an action plan for each recommendation and time frame for implementation.
At the council presentation, Benson read his written response. "I genuinely appreciate the significant effort represented by this review, and assure you of my unwavering (commitment) to addressing these issues in a speedy, thorough and conscientious manner," he said. "I must emphatically note that I make a concerted effort, typically on a daily basis, to learn and follow county and state law in order to be in full compliance. Never are rules nor code purposely disregarded nor are infractions intentional."
According to Benson, 27 of the 31 recommendations have already been addressed with the remaining four to be completed by the end of the month. He will be asking for approval from the council for additional seasonal workers for upcoming elections, but said they were fully staffed for the presidential primary election on March 5.
