Utah
Discrepancies, high rejection rate found in Utah County voting
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Elections Office has found vote discrepancies in Utah County because of a novel in-person voting method, and a high rate of rejected signatures on by mail ballots in the county’s June 25 primary election, their newly released report shows.
The report from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office outlines that at least 19 more ballots were cast than people who signed in to in-person polling locations across Utah county during the Primary.
The discrepancies, the report states, were because of the use of an in-person voting method unique to Utah County implemented by County Clerk, Aaron Davidson called “Fast Cast” that may have allowed voters to turn in more than one ballot.
“The fast cast voting process as implemented in the 2024 primary election lacked key statutory controls and created an environment where fraudulent and/or unauthorized ballots were cast,” the report states.
“We don’t know for a fact that those were fraudulent, but we can’t prove that they weren’t,” Lt. Gov’s Deputy Elections Director Shelly Jackson said.
The review also found other concerning problems, namely that ballot signatures on by-mail ballots were rejected at a rate higher than the statewide average and five times higher than the 2023 primary election.
“I definitely think there was an unnecessary barrier to voting,” Jackson said of the rate at which those signatures were rejected.
Jackson was part of a team of four who reviewed Utah County’s elections and visited the office one week after the primary, July 2.
Davidson’s response
Davidson has told the office, as noted in the report, that voters were properly checked in at the polling locations but did not get their vote histories recorded due to “confusion with poll worker training.” Jackson confirmed that is how Davidson explained what happened.
Davidson also explained to KSL TV why he implemented Fast Cast.
“In-person voting is the most safe and secure way to cast a ballot and make sure it gets counted,” Davidson said. “The fast cast method maintains the verification of showing up in person, showing your ID, signing the poll pad, but not having to wait in line for the next available voting booth.”
“For every ballot that’s cast in person the Clerk’s office does not have to go through the complex very subjective signature verification process which carries a risk of that ballot having to go through the cure process,” he said.
What is “fast cast” voting?
Fast Cast allows voters to fill out their ballots at home and take it to a polling location, but instead of signing their ballot envelope and dropping it off, voters scan it directly into a special tabulation machine after showing their ID at a polling location.
Davidson has been vocal about his distaste for the United States Postal Service to return ballots, pushing voters instead to use dropboxes or to vote in person.
In mid-July, after Washington and Iron counties encountered problems with late postmarks, Davidson wrote on X, “The US Postal Service is no longer verifiable as safe and secure.” Earlier this year, he also shifted the county away from paying for return postage on mail-in ballots.
According to the report, the fast cast system in Lehi, Pleasant Grove and early in-person county polling places had the issues with more ballots cast than voters who checked in.
“This means that 19 votes may have been cast without a voter showing ID or having their signature checked and reviewed by poll workers at the polling location,” the report states.
“Due to the inherent lack of controls in ‘fast cast’ voting and the subsequent noncompliance of Utah election law, the Utah County Clerk’s Office must either abandon the ‘fast cast’ voting method or make significant modifications to bring it into compliance with state code,” the report recommends.
A ‘key security feature disabled’
The reason the tabulation machines allowed for possible fraud, the report states, is because a “key security feature was disabled” in order for these tabulators to read the mail-in ballots.
While Jackson couldn’t discuss the specifics of that safeguard, she said that the tabulation machines were programmed to accept by-mail ballots as opposed to in-person ballots. When a voter votes in person, there is a ballot with a different type of marking on it. That prevents the voter from voting both a by mail and an in person ballot.
“Disabling this would allow for any ballot to be read, creating the potential for multiple ballots to be scanned in by a single voter,” the report states.
“I think any time that you take away safeguards, it is it is a serious matter,” Jackson said. “The machine did have to have that safety feature turned off in order to accept the by-mail ballot versus in-person ballot.”
In total, the report examined 10 polling locations across the county and all but one location had mismatched vote totals with ballots cast.
“‘Fast Cast’ was presented as a way to expedite ballot processing because voters would present ID when submitting their ballot, therefore signature verification would not be performed. However, Utah County still experiences significant delays in ballot processing,” the report states.
It also warns that the fast cast method could create long lines during the general election.
Davidson said the county is already implementing recommendations from the report, including an “overhaul of Fast Cast Voting, weekly trainings on signature verification and improvements to reconciliation procedures.”
High rate of signatures rejected
According to the report, Jackson and the staff also found a high rate of rejected signatures on ballots that were actually valid Utah voters.
“County signature rates were higher than the statewide average and more than five times higher than the 2023 primary election rejection rate,” the report states.
This appears to have led to unnecessary cure letters sent to voters to fix their signatures. The report does not say whether these voters actually returned those cure letters, but anyone who didn’t, wouldn’t have had their vote counted.
One county staff member who was audited during the visit had 25% of the signatures they reviewed rejected, according to the report. It notes that while proper verification is important, staff were “too stringent” with rejecting signatures.
Utah law requires a 1% audit of signature verifications to make sure that ballots cast are actually a registered Utah voter. The report notes that the clerk’s office management acknowledged these high rejection rates during the audit, but “no remedial action was taken.”
“Care must be taken to verify that each vote was cast by the required registered voter, but undue and unnecessary burdens should not be placed on voters,” the report states.
Key findings
In all, the report issued five total findings and subsequent recommendations for Davidson’s office to fix related to in-person voting before November. They are as follows:
- The office did not reconcile the number of voters who checked in at a polling location with the number of ballots cast. Henderson’s office requires this must be done and reviewed for accuracy during the canvass. The report states reconciliation should happen multiple times throughout the day.
- Fast Cast lacked “key statutory controls and created an environment for fraudulent voting.” It bans the method unless key changes are made to make it compliant with state law.
- Some of the staff were too stringent on signature verifications. The office must review signature verification guidelines and implement those.
- Utah County under-utilized the 1% signature audits to provide additional training. The office must review and implement audit policy.
- Utah County has grainy and unclear images of signatures on file. The office should begin updating signatures they have on file.
The report notes that despite the issues raised, Henderson’s office remains “committed to the success of the Utah County Clerk’s Office and staff” and is ready to help implement the changes.
The report notes that each method of voting — in person, dropboxes, and the mail — should be made “accessible and secure” for voters. Jackson also said that Utah County has been receptive to the changes.
“We don’t anticipate these problems to be repeated,” she said.
Two years after October 7th attacks, Gaza war reshapes global politics
Two years after Hamas attacked Israel, Gaza lies in ruins and global alliances have shifted. Correction: A previous version of this video incorrectly identified the conflict. The conflict is between Israel and Hamas.
A man was arrested in Utah after allegedly stabbing a Muslim employee at a mall multiple times and telling investigators he targeted the victim because of his religion, according to court records.
Peter Michael Larsen, 48, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and prohibited dangerous weapon conduct following the attack on July 13 at the Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City, Utah, court and online jail records show. West Valley City is a suburb of Salt Lake City.
The West Valley City Police Department said the incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. local time, when Larsen approached a man working at a kiosk at the mall.
“After a brief interaction, the suspect pulled out a knife and began stabbing him multiple times,” police said in a statement on X. “A few bystanders interfered, and were able to separate the suspect from the victim and subdue the suspect until police arrived.”
The victim, who was not identified by authorities, sustained multiple stab wounds and was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to police and court records.
Larsen told investigators that he had “targeted the victim with intent to kill him because of his religion (Muslim),” police said in an affidavit obtained by USA TODAY. The affidavit also states Larsen said he believes he is “a catalyst” and “intends to kill Muslims.”
The incident remains under investigation, and police said they were looking into any possible relationship between the suspect and victim. USA TODAY reached out to the West Valley City Police Department for comment.
Police: Suspect poses a ‘substantial danger to the public’
The suspect approached the Muslim man, asked for his name, asked about his religion, and indicated he wanted a bottle of water, The Salt Lake Tribune reported, citing comments from Imam Shuaib Din, who leads the Utah Islamic Center and had been in contact with the victim’s family.
As the victim turned to get the water, the attacker began stabbing him, Din told the newspaper. Police said in the affidavit that they received multiple 911 calls at around 2:30 p.m. local time reporting two men “involved in a physical altercation where one male was stabbing the other.”
When officers arrived at the scene, they observed bystanders pinning the suspect to the ground and “had already removed the knife from his hand,” according to the affidavit. Police said the victim was “bleeding profusely” and was then transported to the hospital.
The victim was identified by friends as Syed Sohail Uddin, local television station FOX 13 and The New York Times reported. A GoFundMe fundraiser organized on his behalf said he was stabbed 15 times and required multiple surgeries.
Larsen was also transported to the hospital “due to being punched in the head from bystanders trying to get the knife out of his hand,” according to the affidavit. He was later medically cleared and taken to the police station for an interview.
Police said in the affidavit that Larsen posed “a substantial danger to the public if released based on his violent actions today, ideologies and pre-planned mass casualty events.”
Advocates condemn stabbing attack at Utah mall
Muslim advocacy groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), condemned the attack.
“This horrific attack is yet another reminder that anti-Muslim rhetoric has real-world consequences. When Muslims are routinely demonized, portrayed as threats, or treated as less deserving of equal rights and dignity, some twisted individuals inevitably act on that hatred,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement on July 14.
Civil rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia in the United States over the last two-plus decades following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and more recently because of immigration policies and the fallout of the Israel-Hamas war, according to Reuters.
CAIR, which is the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, reported last year that it received a record number of complaints of discrimination and Islamophobic attacks amid the war.
The organization received more than 8,650 complaints in 2024, the highest number since CAIR began publishing its annual civil rights report in 1996, according to the report released in March 2025. Complaints rose more than 7%, breaking the previous record set in 2023.
The Utah attack follows several high-profile incidents targeting Muslims in recent years, including the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois in 2023 and a deadly shooting at a San Diego mosque earlier this year.
Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY; Reuters
A Utah man told police he repeatedly stabbed a Muslim man because of the man’s faith and intended to kill him, according to court records filed Monday.
The Muslim man survived the attack Monday afternoon at a mall southeast of Salt Lake City. But he’s expected to face a long recovery after suffering more than 15 stab wounds, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help with medical expenses.
Bystanders were able to get the knife out of the suspect’s hand before police arrived at the scene at Valley Fair Mall, court records show.
The suspect, Peter Michael Larsen, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and carrying a prohibited dangerous weapon. He told police he targeted the employee over his religious beliefs, according to the court records, which didn’t list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
The Associated Press was unable to locate any of Larsen’s immediate family in public records.
The Valley Fair Mall did not immediately respond to email and voicemail requests for comment.
Larsen, 48, was on parole for a previous violent felony, court records show. He is being held without bail.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, whose office is determining whether to pursue charges, declined to comment.
“We don’t want to say anything else until we receive the results of the investigation,” Gill said in a statement.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, called on elected officials to reject anti-Muslim rhetoric.
“Our nation’s political and community leaders have a moral responsibility to reject anti-Muslim hate in all its forms before more innocent people are harmed,” Nihad Awad, the organization’s national executive director, said in a statement.
In May, two teenagers killed three people and then themselves at an Islamic Center in San Diego in an attack that has left the community reeling. The AP obtained writings of both teenagers, including hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and both the political left and right.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — There have been hundreds of human-caused wildfires this year in Utah, but the legal outcomes are hard to track.
At least two people have been charged recently for starting fires: one for the Memory Grove Fire in Salt Lake and one for the Mountain Road Fire in Ogden.
This year alone, 327 wildfires have been started by people in Utah — an act that should carry consequences, according to some.
“Certainly, if it’s intentional, it’s against the law,” resident David Mastroianni said. “If it’s not intentional, then they weren’t being as careful as they should be with something they should be careful with.”
But, before anyone gets to that point, there’s a lot of work that goes into figuring out what started the fire, let alone who.
“The fire investigator will show up on scene and will look at the scene, collect evidence, and then turn it over to the proper authorities,” said Kelly Wickens with Forestry, Fire, and State Lands.
Tracking which fires end with criminal charges or civil suits is difficult.
Wickens said that once the fire is out and the investigator turns the evidence over, their work is done, and it’s up to the proper authorities to press charges.
“Arson does require — this is what makes it difficult — is that you have to establish someone intentionally started a fire,” said former prosecutor Nathan Evershed.
Evershed said there are more charges than just arson, such as reckless burning.
“So, if it’s not intentional and it’s more accidental, it can still be viewed as being reckless,” Evershed said.
That could mean if a firework accidentally causes a fire.
Evershed said that there’s also a difference between causing a structure fire and a grass fire. A structure fire could result in aggravated arson charges.
But what happens if a fire is completely accidental?
“It’s more difficult to find a criminal sanction on that … still could be a civil sanction on that, where somebody would have to pay restitution,” Evershed said.
So, while there’s no concrete number for how many human-caused fires have led to charges or civil suits, there are a lot of avenues if someone does get caught.
Evershed said you can even be charged if you just abandon a campfire that causes a fire.
_____
-
Detroit, MI12 minutes agoDetroit’s air quality early Thursday ranked as hazardous, worst in the world
-
San Francisco, CA24 minutes ago‘It was a scene from the Titanic’: Fishermen recall rescuing passengers from sinking boat in SF Bay
-
Dallas, TX30 minutes agoBig picture takeaways from the Dallas Mavericks first week at Summer League
-
Miami, FL36 minutes ago“We’re going to be champions”. Argentina fans in Miami Beach celebrate team’s win against England
-
Boston, MA42 minutes ago4 Red Sox Trade Targets to Solidify Boston’s Push for a Playoff Spot
-
Denver, CO48 minutes agoRTD considers ending Denver’s 16th Street FreeRide shuttle due to budget issues
-
Seattle, WA54 minutes agoTrump immediately fires the new court-appointed top prosecutor in Seattle | CNN Politics
-
San Diego, CA1 hour agoKarepango San Diego Comic-Con 2026 Debuts, Merchandise
