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Candidate clarifies intent in contacting state election officials March 22, 2018, 11:00 amIn a prepared statement that she read, Berry said she had reached out to town officials several times after the Nov. 7 election and had not received the information she needed. She had heard from some residents who submitted provisional ballots who had been confused about why their votes had not been counted. (Provisional ballots cannot be counted until they are verified by the county, Town Recorder Vonda Cook later responded. As the town's election official, her appointment with county officials to have them verified was at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9. Once the county approved those ballots, she and the poll workers counted them and got the results out as quickly as they could, she said.) Berry said she had reached out through Councilmember Richard Stark to town officials. She only contacted state officials after she did not receive information from town officials and was referred to the lt. governor's office by county officials, she said. She never accused anyone of wrong doing, she only wanted information, she said. (Mayor Howard Anderson and Councilmember Chris Murphy disputed Berry's claim that she did not hear back from town officials, saying they had attempted to contact the Berrys by email, by phone and had tried to talk to Kelly Berry after a planning commission meeting and at other times. Berry's husband Bart acknowledged they had received an email from Anderson regarding the issue.) Berry said state law requires a vote recount in an election where there is a difference of 25 percent or less between the votes. Anderson responded, saying the reason the state is not doing a recount is that Utah code is requires .25%, not 25% of the vote and one vote difference to do so. He said the difference between the candidates was seven votes and that's why they were not doing a recount. (Utah Director of Elections Justin Lee later told the Crossroads Journal that Anderson's interpretation was accurate.) Bart Berry also claimed the state is doing an audit of the Cedar Fort election. However, on Dec. 12, Lee told the Crossroads Journal his office is not doing an audit of Cedar Fort and does not have any kind of ongoing investigation into the town's election. Berry concluded her statement by saying she hoped the new administration would set aside bias and listen to the people and that questioning should not be looked down upon. She hoped the divided town would come together, she said and congratulated incoming Mayor David Gustin and the new council members. Berry lost in the mayoral race to Gustin by just seven votes. The community news source for Eagle Mountain Utah, Saratoga Springs Utah, Lehi Utah, American Fork Utah, Highland Utah, Alpine Utah, and The Cedar Valley, including Cedar Fort Utah and Fairfield Utah. Copyright 2024 The Crossroads Journal LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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