VOTE BY MAIL


Utah State Law directs that elections shall be administered primarily by mail. Most counties in Utah have primarily been vote by mail since 2016.

In 2021, as claims of election fraud escalated across the country, Ricky did something about it. Drawing upon his 17 years of experience as a CPA and Certified Information Systems Auditor, he assembled a team of Utah election experts and gave them the following tasks:

  1. Diagram in detail the entire elections process from voter registration to final election results certification, and everything in between.
  2. Identify the key risks within each distinct process.
  3. Identify the safeguards currently in place that address each of the key risks, and how effective those safeguards are.
  4. Identify holes where key risks are either not addressed by safeguards, or where the safeguards could be improved.


This process took several months of work involving local election officials, legislators, and the state elections office. In October 2021, Ricky introduced the resulting document to a special legislative committee hearing on elections integrity, attended by hundreds of concerned citizens.

You can see the document here: Securing Utah’s Elections 2021


Election Security Amendments


This document was approved by the Lieutenant Governor’s office, and was the basis for House Bill 313, Election Security Amendments, which was championed by Mr. Hatch and which passed during the 2022 legislative session. The main components of this bill are:

  1. Establish a year-round, independent audit of the statewide voter registration system.
  2. Create a software systems audit program to conduct on vote tabulation equipment across the state.
  3. Require 24-hour video monitoring of all unattended ballot drop boxes across the state.
  4. Codify the requirement that no scanning or tabulation equipment may be connected to the Internet.
  5. Establish a statewide signature verification training program.
  6. Create ballot chain of custody standards and best practices statewide.
  7. Establish a minimum set of standards for ballot printers.


Sutherland Institute Report


The conservative Sutherland Institute took an in-depth look at vote by mail and produced a report of their findings: Examining the Evidence on Vote by Mail. 

Derek Monson, vice president of policy at Sutherland Institute, penned an op-ed published in the Salt Lake Tribune summarizing the report: Cox’s defense of voting by mail highlights the need to focus on facts.

In short, their findings are that: “Vote-by-mail does not give either party an advantage or lead to voter fraud.” Of note, they state in their report:


The possibility of fraud exists in all election systems. Therefore the stronger measure of success or failure is not theoretical possibilities of fraud, but verified existence of fraud.

Even organizations concerned with election security that tout voter fraud databases have not
found significant instances of fraud in Utah. The Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Database, for instance, lists one 2008 instance of attempted voter fraud in Utah. The attempted fraud was in voter registration rather than voting by mail.

Based on verified voter fraud, Utah’s VBM program successfully protects the integrity and security of Utah elections.


Securing Your Vote


You would be hard-pressed to find someone more capable, qualified, and committed to making sure that your vote is safe, secure, and counted than your current Clerk/Auditor, Ricky Hatch. He has demonstrated both the expertise and energy necessary to ensure that Weber County uses the absolute best voting method that makes it easy for you to cast an informed ballot, and keeps your election trustworthy.

If you would like a tour of the Weber County Elections office, or to learn more about the election process, please contact Ricky, or visit https://weberelections.gov/.