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Utah County clerk outlines election changes, security upgrades and vote-by-mail roll cleanup
Summary
Clerk/Auditor Amelia told commissioners the county adapted to HB 3006 and the pandemic by operating drive-up ballot replacement sites, expanding drop-box use and tightening ballot custody and signature verification; she reported a 2.67% return-to-sender rate and substantial cost savings.
Clerk/Auditor Amelia told the Utah County Commission that the office reconfigured operations this year after the Legislature passed HB 3006 and the county opted to operate drive-up ballot-replacement locations during the June primary.
Amelia said the county quickly organized a “70 day team” of county departments and community partners to run safe, drive-through and drop-box options, citing cooperation from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, the Emergency Operations Center, the Utah County Health Department, public works, BYU and local school districts. “We had community partners from government, from private sector, and from ecclesiastical organizations come together to make this possible,” Amelia said.
The clerk’s presentation focused on three performance goals the office adopted: improving election security, increasing operational efficiency and improving voter convenience. Amelia described several steps to meet those goals, including multilayer signature verification, dual controls for ballot custody, an adjudication process visible to the public, 24/7 security cameras during active ballot periods and an on-site ballot center that keeps ballots in one secured room from receipt to archiving.
Amelia noted the office’s data-management work reduced return-to-sender ballots substantially. “In this primary election, our return to sender percentage was 2.67%,” she said, down from more than 10% previously. She estimated that updating voter lists and increasing drop-box usage saved the county tens of thousands of dollars in postage and processing costs this year.
Commissioners asked for additional numbers about mail and drop-box savings and how many previously inactive voters cast ballots in person; Amelia and staff provided estimates (roughly 3,600 in-person votes and savings estimates in the tens of thousands) and said a formal post-election audit and further reporting will be part of budget cycle updates. The presentation also noted the county executed audits by the National Cybersecurity Center to permit public review of electronic ballots.
Commissioners praised the office’s turnaround since 2018 and asked staff to use similar performance reporting in other departments during the budget cycle. Amelia said further updates, including presidential-election statistics and budget-related metrics, will be provided to the commission.
