County canvass certifies Weber County primary; clerk says about 99% of ballots were mail or drop-box returns

Ricky Hatch, Weber County Clerk/Auditor, told the Board of Commissioners on July 7 that the county canvass makes the primary election results official at the county level and that those certified results will be forwarded to the state for aggregation and statewide certification.

"They're official at the county level and now they go up to the state," Hatch said. He described local procedures used during the canvass: researching provisional votes, performing additional reconciliations and double- and triple-checking counts to verify that no valid ballots were overlooked or improperly challenged.

When Commissioner Gage Froy asked what percentage of ballots were returned by mail or drop box and whether any problems had arisen, Hatch said, "In Weber County for this primary election, about 99% of all ballots cast were returned by mail or drop box." He added that every election method has strengths and weaknesses and that the clerk's office has spent years refining controls to address potential risks.

Hatch also described the timeline to state certification: he said county-certified results are submitted to the state, which will aggregate them and has a statutory timeframe for certifying statewide contests. During the recap he referenced both a short certification window at the state level and a two-week local period used to research provisional ballots and complete reconciliations.

Commissioner Froy thanked Hatch and his staff for their work keeping election processes transparent and encouraged voters to feel confident in the mail-in and drop-box system. The county’s certification completes the county-level step; the state will perform its aggregation and certification under state law.