Weber County official outlines vote‑by‑mail processes, security and turnout trends

Lauren Schafer, representing the Weber County Clerk/Auditor and Elections Office, briefed the Washington Terrace City Council on how the county runs elections, how security and auditing work in vote‑by‑mail ballots, and turnout patterns she said have followed implementation of vote‑by‑mail.

Schafer said county staff audit equipment and ballots, hold public pre‑election logic-and-accuracy testing and post‑election auditing in public meetings, and maintain chain-of-custody procedures for ballot batches. ‘‘Each envelope has a bar code with a unique app ID that’s unique to that specific envelope,’’ she said, describing a process that disables earlier ballots when a voter requests a replacement.

Schafer described turnout trends she associated with vote‑by‑mail: municipal general turnout around 40 percent in recent municipal years and turnout approaching 90 percent in regular general elections, with an increase in participation after vote‑by‑mail was implemented. She said the primary this year is scheduled for Aug. 12 and the general election for Nov. 4; county ballot mailings typically start in July. Schafer also said registration verification includes driver's license or state ID and Social Security number and that the county uses multiple sources to clean its voter rolls, citing a drop in undeliverable ballots from about 20 percent in 2013 to about 2 percent most recently.

Council members thanked Schafer and said they value the county’s auditing transparency. Schafer invited council members and residents to attend public equipment tests and audits and offered to share upcoming meeting dates.