Vote By Mail

The City Council of Eagle Mountain on March 21st 2017, with a split vote, voted to have Utah County handle the municipal election for the election year 2017. This election cycle Eagle Mountain will be electing two Council Members and the Mayor. The Saratoga Springs City Council has also agreed to have Utah County handle their municipal election as well. Saratoga Springs will also be electing a Mayor and two City Council Members. If you want to run for one of these offices, you can file your declaration of candidacy from June 1 to June 7 at the appropriate City Office. It is not unusual for Cities to have their county handle their municipal elections, in fact it is a very common practice. Utah County usually allows the cities to rent their voting machines for voting. This year the only option that is being offered to the cities is that of Vote by Mail (VBM). A memo was sent out to the City Recorders dated February 8, 2017 that discussed the options that County would offer to cities for the 2017 Municipal Election. “In 2015 Utah County administered both vote by mail (VBM) and traditional polling place Elections for the Municipalities who contracted with us. In 2017 Utah County intends to administer only one type of Election for those that choose to contract with us.” The memo also outlines costs as $1.28 per active voter in a VBM Primary Election, and $1.35 per active voter in a VBM General Election. There are several assumptions that are assumed in the quoted cost. “This memo is only a cost estimate. Actual costs will be quoted in the ILAs once we know the scale and scope of Election after the April 3, 2017 deadline.” Fionnuala Kofoed, the City Recorder for Eagle Mountain, in an email to me, stated that she had looked into the option of having Salt Lake County do the elections. “… I contacted the Lieutenant Governor’s Office last year to see if Eagle Mountain City could contract with Salt Lake County to do vote by mail, as Utah County didn’t provide that service.” During the Eagle Mountain budget discussion with the City Council on January 31st, 2017 there was some discussion on the topic of VBM between City Staff and the attending City Council Members. Funding for VBM was one of the items that the City Recorder had as a budgetary priority.

The Eagle Mountain City Council was split on this vote. Tom Westmoreland, Ben Reeves, and Adam Bradley were in favor of VBM, while Colby Curtis and Stephanie Gricius were opposed to VBM. The discussion between the City Council Members brought up several concerns, from delivery of ballot problems, privacy issues, as well preserving secret balloting. Adam Bradley, Eagle Mountain City Council Member, said this in response to a question I asked about personal information privacy, possible delivery issues, and possible GRAMA requests.

“Here is the process… your personal info is not submitted with your ballot, only your signature. Your signature is on a special sealed section of the envelope. Once it has been verified then the ballot is taken out of the envelope face down and put in a pile where a computer then tallies the votes. No one ever see’s your signature and your votes together. The system that keeps track of how often you vote is called VISTA, it does not track who you voted for just what elections you voted in. The secret ballot is a sacred thing and I feel that VBM protects it. Yes, mail for sure has been lost, to be honest I don’t really trust the mail system all that much either. That is why you can drop it off at the city or at the county and not have to trust the mail system. No, your ballot is not subject to GRAMA. I really feel that VBM is a better system. Simply put, it provides more people an easier way to vote and that is a priority for me.”

Stephanie Gricius, a member of the Eagle Mountain City Council, has several concerns about the program.

“I feel that having my signature and ballot together compromises my right to a secret ballot. I absolutely think there is a higher chance of spoiled ballots. The SL Tribune did an article that said there were 30,000 spoiled ballots last election cycle which is basically the entire population of Eagle Mountain. Right now there is a way for everyone who meets the voting requirements to do so. You can already request to receive your ballot in the mail. In a traditional election I can go to my polling place and know my vote was counted. Exclusive vote by mail eliminates that certainty.”

Tom Westmoreland, an Eagle Mountain City Council Member, explains why he voted for VBM.

With voter participation numbers rising toward 80% in municipalities using VBM and with Eagle Mountain experiencing very low voter participation, the future political relevancy of Eagle Mountain is in jeopardy without VBM. This means that larger urban areas that use VBM, like Salt Lake, will have even more political clout as they pick up more delegate representation in the state. I have already seen my precinct lose delegates because of a lack of voter participation. With change a certain amount of anxiety is natural but it makes change no less necessary. In some ways this is an adapt or be left out moment in our history.

Not everyone thinks that trusting their vote to the Postal Service is the best course of action. Everyone has had experiences with getting mail delivered to the wrong address. What happens if a neighbor that does not agree with you politically accidentally gets your ballot, and then forgets to give it to you until after the election? Because of this change, the only options that the cities have are, to agree to use VBM, or to find a way to administer their election without county supplied equipment. Bryan Thompson, Utah County Clerk/Auditor in an email to Cindy LoPiccolo, Saratoga Springs City Recorder, explained what the cities responsibility would be if VBM was used through the county. “Any Cities, which at this point seem to be just a 3 or 4, that want to do a traditional polling place election will need to self administer or contract with Carr Printing to do a paper ballot election. The electronic voting machines will not be available for use, as the Vendor is not in a position to support their use this election cycle. If the city council decides to go with a traditional polling place election, we are available to answer questions, and offer suggestions to assist as we can.” The county will be using equipment provided by Dominion Voting Systems, and will have the printing and mailing services done by K&H Integrated Printers. The same email explains that this decision was made because of a decision the vendor the county uses for their voting systems made. “With the Legislative session now behind us, and in consultation with our Elections vendor, Dominion Voting, we now have a clearer picture of what we can feasible handle. Based upon various issues, including available resources from Dominion, we will be limited to one option (type of election) that we can administer this year as a County. The resources and support from Dominion are Focused on Vote by Mail, so that is the direction we will be taking as the County Elections Office.” Marilyn Banasky, City Recorder for Lehi City, in an email to other City Recorders said this about her experience with VBM. “Having done vote by mail on my own for the primary and then having the County do the general election was a world of difference. It went very smoothly … I feel the County has made us a fair offer and am personally excited that they are willing to partner with all of us this election cycle.” Several cities have used VBM for years in Utah. Only time will tell if VBM will be the end solution for Eagle Mountain and its surrounding cities. Drew Curley, an Eagle Mountain Resident currently running for City Council, made this comment about VBM. “While Vote by Mail may extend a convenience already offered to all citizens, it comes with some inherent risks. I believe that it provides an opportunity for voters who are uninformed to have greater influence on the process, and removes a level of security that many voters feel is necessary.”

Additional Resources

Information about VBM from Saratoga Springs City Recorder After 30,000 Utah ballots rejected last year, House passes notification bill Dominion Voting Systems K&H Integrated Printing Solutions