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PROVO - Primary voting in Utah is over, but some residents weren't allowed to cast their ballots. Now they want to know why.
Officials at the Utah County Clerk's Office are processing votes from Tuesday's voting, but one ballot not in their system is that of Provo resident Tom Harker.
Last March, Harker, like many Utahns, attended party caucus meetings. He had been registered as Libertarian but filled out a form to change his registration to Republican so he could vote in the primary.
As voters went the polls Tuesday, he called the county clerk's office to see if his form had been processed, He was told he wasn't in the system and would not be allowed to vote. His situation wasn't unique - his two sisters experienced the same issue.
To have it taken away at the last second and have no other avenue to explore, it was frustrating.
–Tom Harker
"What she said was something to the effect of, 'If you registered at the caucus meeting, we probably never received the forms because it seems like we haven't gotten half the forms that people said they deposited at a caucus meeting," Harker said.
The Utah County Clerk's Office reported it had no record of Harker's registration.
"We don't have any record in the case of Mr. Harker of having anything we received changing his affiliation," said county auditor Bryan Thompson. "I don't know if someone just misplaced the forms and never got them turned in. I've seen that happen."
Harker, who researched his candidates carefully, was irritated. "To have it taken away at the last second and have no other avenue to explore, it was frustrating," he said.
The Utah County Republican Party chair was unaware of any problems and said it appeared all the registration forms from caucus meetings were turned in.
