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

SALT LAKE CITY – “You are charged in this case with fraudulent voter registration,” a Utah judge told a man appearing remotely during a Grand County Court hearing Monday morning.

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

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

However, within minutes, the charge in question was dropped on Monday. County Attorney Stephen Stocks told the judge the man provided evidence that he planned to build a residence on the land when he registered to vote.

“Once the housing process failed,” the man explained, “no further efforts were made.”

No vote took place and the matter is now closed. The charges against the other two men are still pending.

KSL investigators became aware of these cases after requesting records from the Utah state court system to review every alleged violation of the state's election code prosecuted from July 2012 through the end of May of this year.

Over a period of nearly 12 years, data shows a total of 32 cases – containing a total of 58 charges – were filed. In some years, no complaints were filed. While this year, there was a maximum of 12.

Nearly half of those cases (five) are linked to what the Utah Attorney General's Office calls a scheme to submit fraudulent signatures in nomination petitions for candidates in Utah's 2nd District.

“This is an area where we've seen a significant increase in these attempts,” said Utah Elections Director Ryan Cowley, “and when we catch it, we turn it around.” We are continuing this.

Another case involves a Cache County election worker accused of falsifying a document. Other alleged crimes being prosecuted in Utah include the removal or destruction of campaign signs, and a man is accused of voting for his late wife's ballot.

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

KSL investigation finds few election crime cases prosecuted in Utah

Cowley said the most common cases of fraud are people signing ballots that aren't theirs. Even with permission or a favor, he stressed that it was illegal.

“I think it's important to detect these instances of fraud, and I think it gives us more confidence that the processes we have in place are working,” he said, highlighting the robust process state signature verification system.

Cowley said Utah has never experienced voter fraud significant enough to influence the results of an election.

And there's not much to be gained by trying to game the system, said Josh McCrain, an 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 makes no sense.”

That's why, he says, we don't see widespread voter fraud in America.

“There is very little, if any, empirical evidence that voter fraud exists in U.S. elections,” McCrain said.

Yet when it comes to whether Utah candidates will accept the results of Tuesday's Republican primary elections, not everyone is in agreement.

“As to whether I will accept the results of the election, I will say this,” gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman told reporters earlier this month, “I will verify the results of the election.”

In response to the same question, Governor Spencer Cox said: “I assure you I will accept the outcome of this election. I will accept the results of the federal election. I accepted the election results four years ago and nothing has changed.”

Have you experienced something that doesn't seem normal to you? KSL investigators want to help. Submit your tip to [email protected] or 385-707-6153 so we can work for you.