Cox says states should defend their election oversight as Trump targets vote-by-mail

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Gov. Spencer Cox defends states' rights to oversee elections amid Trump's push to end mail-in voting.
Cox said he supports Utah's vote-by-mail system but acknowledges concerns in other states.
Cox also commented on alleged gerrymandering in Texas and defended Utah's Senate president in controversy over SB213.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said states should defend their constitutionally-granted power to oversee their own elections as President Donald Trump seeks to end mail-in voting, but added that the president is right to be "extremely cautious" about ensuring security of vote-by-mail.

Trump encouraged voters to use mail-in ballots prior to the 2024 election after spending years baselessly claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him in part due to mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, he announced he would sign an executive order to end the practice ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Asked about the order during his monthly news conference Thursday, Cox gave what he described as a "nuanced answer," defending Utah's system of vote-by-mail but saying he understands why so many questions are raised in other states.

"Utah is an outlier when it comes to the way that we implemented vote-by-mail, the time that we took, the processes that we've gone through," the governor said. "Most states who do mail-in voting did not do that. Most of the states that recently implemented mail-in voting did it virtually overnight, almost literally overnight, during COVID, without going through the process and procedures. And so it's very reasonable for someone to see that and say vote-by-mail is problematic."

The U.S. Constitution states that "the times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof," and many legal experts say Trump's efforts to dictate how states vote would likely be found unconstitutional.

"The Constitution is very clear that it's in the purview of the states and not the federal government, and I think states should defend that," Cox said.

The governor has previously said he favors improving but not ending vote-by-mail in Utah, but wouldn't say how far the state would go if Trump tried to force the state to change.

"I would have to see what that looks like," he said.

It's a different tactic than the one taken by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who has long been critical of voting by mail. "The president is correct that universal mail-in voting is rife with opportunities for interference, errors and fraud," he told the Deseret News earlier this week.

Utah Rep. Burgess Owens agreed that "Utah has gotten it right" with mail-in voting and appeared open to the federal government having more of a say when it comes to presidential elections.

"There's certain things for states because it only impacts them," he said. "But when it comes down to federal, then it really is 'we the people,' all of us, and if there's any cheating going on, all of us are impacted by that."

Cox was also asked about efforts by Texas Republicans to gerrymander congressional districts in an effort to shore up the GOP House majority in next year's midterms. The governor said Americans may not realize the consequences of eroding norms that have typically limited redistricting to once every decade following the census.

"I fear that this may be one of those," he said. "We are so polarized as a country, with the trust in institutions falling. I can't see a scenario where ... that makes life better for anybody, and so, again, we just see the escalation that continues to happen."

"I would be very cautious," Cox added.

Cox weighs in on Stuart Adams controversy

The governor also addressed continued anger against Utah Senate President Stuart Adams over claims he initiated a law change that helped influence his granddaughter's plea deal. Asked if he supported a third-party investigation into the process, the governor said he thinks there's "nothing to investigate."

Adams has rejected calls for his resignation and defended his decision not to disclose his personal connection to the bill as it was debated and passed into law early last year.

A provision of SB213 — which allows 18-year-old high school students to face lesser criminal charges than child rape if they engage in noncoercive sexual activity with teenagers under the age of 14 — was initiated by Adams, though he did not sponsor the bill or acknowledge that his granddaughter was facing charges after having sex with a 13-year-old. She was an adult but still in high school at the time, and was initially charged with two counts of child rape and two counts of child sodomy, all first-degree felonies.

The change allows 18-year-old high schoolers to be charged with a third-degree felony for unlawful sexual activity with a child.

The bill wasn't retroactive, but the "legislative intent" was referenced during the woman's sentencing, in which she pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony and three class A misdemeanors.

Cox disputed the idea that the change was hidden or inserted into the bill at the last minute, adding that he "knew this provision was in there and so did every other legislator who read the bill."

"I'm very grateful that I had no idea this was impacting someone in (Adams') family ... because it may have changed the way I reacted to the bill," the governor said. "The only question I have is: Is this the right policy? And this is a really tough one. ... And it was a close call. Maybe it's not the right policy. Maybe, now that we have an opportunity to reflect on it, maybe it doesn't go far enough, or it goes too far."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.