KSL Investigation examines more than a decade of alleged election crime in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – “You are accused of voter registration fraud in this case,” a Utah judge told a man who was connected via video to a court hearing in Grand County on Monday morning.

If convicted, the man could face up to a year in prison, said District Judge Don Torgerson.

The case is one of three Grand County prosecutors have filed this year accusing men with Colorado addresses of registering to vote in Utah using addresses of vacant lots.

Within minutes, however, the charges were dropped on Monday. District Attorney Stephen Stocks told the judge that the man had presented evidence that he had plans to build a home on the property at the time he registered to vote.

“After the housing placement process fell through,” the man explained, “no further efforts were made.”

No vote was cast and the case was dismissed. The cases against the other two men are still pending.

KSL investigators learned of the cases after requesting records from Utah state law enforcement to investigate every alleged violation of the state’s election law, which was prosecuted from July 2012 through the end of May of this year.

According to the data, a total of 32 cases were filed with a total of 58 charges during this nearly 12-year period. In some years, no cases were filed at all. This year saw the most, with 12 cases.

(KSL television)

Nearly half of those cases (five) are related to a conspiracy that the Utah Attorney General’s Office describes as fraudulent signatures on nomination petitions for candidates in Utah’s 2nd District.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in these attempts in this area,” said Ryan Cowley, head of Utah’s election department. “And when we see something like this, we report it. We prosecute it.”

In another case, a Cache County poll worker is accused of falsifying a document. Other alleged crimes being charged in Utah include removing or destroying campaign signs and a man is accused of filling out his deceased wife’s ballot.

In the last nearly 12 years, only one man has been charged with “false identity fraud – double voting” after the 2020 general election. He had previously told KSL investigators that it was his first election as a voter and he misread the provisional ballots and voted again in person on election day. The county clerk found the duplicate ballot. He was offered a diversion agreement and the case was dismissed after he paid a $50 fine.

KSL investigation finds few voter fraud cases prosecuted in Utah

Cowley said the most common fraud involves people signing ballots that are not theirs, stressing that this is illegal even if you have permission or are doing a favor.

“I think it’s important to uncover these frauds, and I think it gives us even more confidence that the processes we have in place are working,” he said, pointing to the state’s robust signature verification process.

Cowley said Utah has never seen voter fraud serious enough to affect the outcome of the election.

And trying to game the system accomplishes little, says Josh McCrain, assistant professor of political science at the University of Utah.

“You’re not going to affect the outcome of the election and you’re going to get caught,” he said. “So in that sense, the risk-reward ratio doesn’t make sense.”

That’s why, he says, there isn’t widespread voter fraud in America.

“There is little to no empirical evidence that there is such a thing as voter fraud in U.S. elections,” McCrain said.

Still, not everyone agrees whether the candidates in Utah will accept the results of Tuesday’s Republican primaries.

“As for whether I will accept the election results, I will say this,” gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman told reporters earlier this month: “I will examine the election results.”

When asked the same question, Governor Spencer Cox replied: “I assure you, I will accept the result of this election. I will accept the result of the federal election. I accepted the result of the election four years ago and nothing has changed.”

Have you experienced something you think is wrong? KSL Investigators want to help you. Send your tip to [email protected] or 385-707-6153 so we can take action on your behalf.