Utah election official DOJ dispute

Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson reported that threats to the state’s midterm elections are increasingly originating from within the U.S. federal government. Henderson, who oversees Utah’s elections, stated that the Justice Department had previously requested access to statewide voter registration lists containing sensitive personal data, such as Social Security and driver’s license numbers, which she declined to provide due to privacy concerns.

Following this dispute, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice that sought to compel the state to hand over unredacted voter rolls. U.S. District Court Judge David Barlow ruled that the Civil Rights Act does not entitle the federal government to Utah’s complete election records.

In addition to the legal proceedings, Henderson noted that the Department of Justice intends to deploy election monitors to Utah for the November midterm elections. She clarified that these monitors will be unarmed, will not wear identifying insignia, and are expected to follow state rules for poll watchers regarding the observation of ballot processing and signature verification.