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Eagle Mountain, other cities to vote by mail April 28, 2017, 8:51 amAs of March 4, the county will be doing VBM for the following cities: Provo, Orem, Lehi, American Fork, Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Alpine, Cedar Hills, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, Vineyard, Springville, Spanish Fork and Payson. Mapleton, Highland and Elk Ridge have indicated that they do not wish to participate in VBM. Cedar Fort, Fairfield, Goshen, Genola, Santaquin, Salem and Woodland Hills have not officially told the Utah County Clerk's office if they will be participating in VBM. Eagle Mountain released a statement about this resolution describing how the voting process will work. "All active, registered voters will receive a ballot mailed by the Elections Office three weeks before the election. An active voter is a voter that has voted at least once in the last four years. Inactive voters will need to update their voter registration to receive a ballot in the mail. The fastest way to update your information is in person at the Utah County Elections Office in Provo or online at the following link: https://secure.utah.gov/voterreg/index.html." After you receive your ballot, you can either mail it in, return it to City Hall or take it to the county offices for processing. The statement continues, "Once the County has received the ballot, signatures are checked and verified before the ballot is counted. If the ballot cannot be verified, it is passed to another team member before it is rejected. If a voter's signature cannot be verified, the voter will be contacted and can correct the error prior to the canvas. Additionally, the Lieutenant Governor's Office is required to do an audit of the clerk's signature verification process. The ballot is not removed from the envelope until the signature has been verified, maintaining the secrecy of the ballot. Every paper ballot is treated with great care and at no time is handled by a single person as there is always a second set of eyes overseeing the processing of submitted ballots." Some people have questioned the security of the ballot and the ability to connect a voter to their ballot. Utah County Clerk/Auditor Bryan Thompson made this statement via email about security and privacy of VBM. "We hold the privacy of the votes cast as a high priority. That has been one of my personal concerns also when it comes to voting by mail. I have taken time to look into the various VBM process and tabulation systems available for use. My staff and I have also visited jurisdictions in Washington State and Colorado that have used VBM for their elections. Additionally, I have consulted with Salt Lake, Davis and Weber Counties here in Utah that used VBM for this past presidential election. In addition to privacy issues, we have also asked about voter authentication (and) how to best handle both of these important issues." Thompson explained what happens when the ballots are processed: "(The) voter authentication process involves checking voter signatures with the signatures on file from the Driver's License Division and voter registration applications. We will be using the Dominion system for this election that has an enhanced signature authentication process." In terms of privacy preservation, the returned ballots come in a double sealed envelope. "Upon receipt of the returned ballot envelope, we open the first seal which reveals the voter signature. After the signature is verified as being valid, then another process opens the second seal on the envelope and the ballot is extracted. The ballot goes one direction and the envelope with the identifying marks and signature go a different direction. The separation process is to preserve the privacy of the ballot. It is at this point that the ballots are then scanned and tabulated." Thompson explained when the ballots will be destroyed after tabulation: "By Utah State law, all election material and ballots are placed in secure storage (at the county's record archive) for a period of 22 months. After that retention period, those items are destroyed." Eagle Mountain City's statement also pointed out that election turnout usually rises when VBM is implemented. "In the 2016 general election, 21 of 29 counties in Utah conducted VBM. Research shows that on average, voter turnout increases 10 percent to 15 percent with VBM. Some municipalities have experienced even higher results. For example, in 2013 West Jordan tested VBM and the city's turnout increased from 14 percent to 35 percent. In 2015, the return rate dropped slightly to 31.60 percent; however, the comparative voting rate was still more than double that of traditional elections. Similarly, Riverdale City's voter turnout increased from 24.02 percent to 47.85 percent and has maintained a similar increase in subsequent elections. Colorado, Oregon and Washington conduct all of their elections by mail and always have high voter turnout." The Utah Lieutenant Governor's office in September 2014 did a study on VBM as per instruction by the Utah State Legislature and Utah State Code. The study, titled "Evaluating the Feasibility of Vote By Mail in Utah," made several points in its executive summary. It points out that the Vote By Mail systems "carry advantages and disadvantages that policymakers should be aware of to ensure they select a system that meets their goals and is consistent with their values." It also points out that, "In terms of general election turnout, vote-by-mail systems do not show a general long-term increase in turnout. Gains in turnout are more likely to be observed in low-salience elections such as special elections and municipal elections." The report found that there is some disconnect between city clerks on the benefits of Vote by Mail. "A survey of county clerks shows substantial variation from county to county on perceptions of whether VBM is easier or harder to administer and whether VBM saves money or is more expensive." The conclusions of the report are as follows: "Our findings in this report suggest that Vote by Mail can be a legitimate and valid way to administer an election. However, just as traditionally-administered polling-place elections can be run with higher standards and better practices, the manner in which VBM is implemented is important for maintaining the integrity of the voting process. In the course of our report we note that various counties have had different experiences with VBM and absentee systems. The counties, from their sundry vantage points, also have different perceptions about the impacts VBM would have on their counties. We see wisdom in accounting for the variety of experiences and preconceptions among counties in crafting policy. We encourage policy makers to carefully consider the pros and cons of VBM systems before making changes in the manner in which they administer their elections and to ensure that where VBM may be adopted it is done carefully to ensure the integrity of the election process." It will be interesting to see how the voters in Eagle Mountain respond to VBM. This year's municipal election will be for two city council seats as well as the mayor's position. Only time will tell if VBM will increase voter turnout. The agreement between the county and the city for VBM will be for a period of one year. The city can re-evaluate the agreement for the next election cycle. Thompson explained, "The interlocal agreement with each city is for only one year. For the 2019 municipal election, each city would have to make the decision if they wanted the county to administer their election. If they do, we would sign another ILA for that election cycle." 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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