Election Security

At Salt Lake County, we recognize the importance of our electoral system in protecting our freedoms and preserving a stable and secure society. Trust in government and in our elected leaders rests on the integrity of the electoral process. Our highest priority is to build and maintain a resilient electoral system free from fraud or interference.

Our electoral process includes many security measures to ensure integrity. In the sections below you can learn more about the steps we've taken to protect ballot security and privacy.

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The Path of Your Ballot

Voter Registration

To vote in elections in the state of Utah, a person must first register to vote. Only U.S. citizens aged 18 and older are eligible to vote.

When a person registers to vote they're required to provide a Utah driver license number, a State ID number, or the last four digits of their social security number on their registration form, and sign an affidavit affirming that they are eligible to vote. An election worker uses that information to verify their identity through the State of Utah, then creates a record for them in the statewide voter registration database.

Once added to the voter database, a unique Voter ID number is created for the voter. A Voter Information Card, or VIC, is generated with the voter's ID number and local precinct information and sent to their home address. If the VIC is returned to the Election Office as undeliverable, that voter's registration is made inactive until their address can be confirmed.

The voter registration database is regularly maintained to make sure only eligible active voters receive a mail-in ballot at election time. We ensure current and accurate voter information in a number of ways:

By utilizing a national change of address (NCOA) database to identify voters who may have moved within the county and updating their address.
Reviewing all undeliverable mail and attempt to verify the accuracy of voter's addresses.
Inactivating voters who have moved to another state.
Removing deceased persons based on reports received from the Bureau of Vital Statistics.
Scanning the database for duplicate profiles and removing them.

If a voter's address or eligibility can't be verified, or if they haven't voted once in at least eight years, their record is made inactive until they can be verified. No inactive voter is sent a mail-in ballot until their status is changed to active.

We strongly encourage all voters to keep their voting address current so there are no delays in receiving a mail-in ballot.

Vote by Mail

Because Utah is a vote by mail state, every active, registered voter is mailed a ballot packet twenty-one days before Election Day. The ballot packet includes a ballot, an instruction sheet, and a return envelope. The envelope has critical security features that ensure that each voter can only vote once per election, and that ballots from outside sources cannot be introduced into an election.

First, every return envelope includes a Ballot ID. The Ballot ID is a unique number generated each election that connects a ballot to an eligible active voter in the statewide database. No two ballots will ever have the same ID number. If a voter loses their ballot, the old Ballot ID is cancelled, and a new ballot is issued with a new Ballot ID. If the old ballot were somehow returned to the Election Center, it would be rejected.

The Ballot ID prevents voters from voting more than once. Once a ballot is returned to the Election Center the Ballot ID is verified against the record of that voter and their vote is logged, making them unable to submit another ballot or vote at an in-person vote center.

Alternatively, if a voter votes at an in-person vote center, a notation is made on their voter record so that any ballot submitted with their corresponding Ballot ID will be rejected, making it impossible for them to vote more than once.

The Ballot ID also prevents outside ballots from being introduced into an election. All ballots that are returned to the Election Center are checked against the list of Ballot IDs that were generated for that election. If a ballot is returned with an Ballot ID that isn't on the list, the ballot is rejected. Or, if a ballot is returned with an Ballot ID that doesn't match the voter's ID number, that ballot is rejected. Ballots are only accepted once the Ballot ID has been verified as valid and shown to match the name on the ballot.

The return envelope's security feature is the signature affidavit. Every return envelope has a space for a voter to sign and acknowledge their eligibility to vote. No ballot without a signature can be accepted for counting. Before a returned ballot can be opened, the affidavit signature is scanned and compared to signatures in the voter's database record. If the signature matches, the ballot is then opened and counted. If the signature doesn't match, and the voter doesn't respond to requests for additional ID verification, the ballot cannot be counted.

In-Person Voting

Some voters prefer to vote in-person on election day, or require accommodations to assist them with voting. Salt Lake County operates Early and Election Day vote centers throughout the county to make it easy to vote in person. At vote centers, voter cast their ballot using touch screen voting machines. Audio and tactile assistance devices are available at each vote center for those who may need them.

Voting machine integrity is protected in several ways:

Voting machines are designed for election use only and are not able to connect to the internet.
Before going out to vote centers, each machine is tested to make sure it is operating correctly. After testing, its memory is wiped, all ports are closed with tamper evident seals, and it is placed in a secure case for transportation to a vote center.
Wherever a voting machine is stored, whether at the Election office, at a vote center, or while being transported, it is secured to prevent tampering.

During early voting, or on election day, voters are checked-in by poll workers who confirm their identity and eligibility to vote by comparing their personal identification to the voter registration database. They are then given a voter access card to vote on a voting machine.

After entering their choices on the voting machine, voters are asked to review the choices both on screen, and on the printed paper trail. Once they have confirmed their choice, their ballot is recorded on an encrypted flash drive in the voting machine and printed on a paper backup copy. That paper copy will be used later when the election is audited.

When the polls close, the flash drives and paper copies are placed in secure containers, sealed, and transported by teams of two police officers to the Election office for tabulation.

Ballot Processing

Voters return their mail-in ballots to the Salt Lake County Election Division in one of three ways:

through US postal mail
by dropping it in a ballot drop box
by dropping it off at an in-person vote center

After ballots are collected, they are brought to the Election Center to be processed and counted.

Throughout ballot processing, ballots are always in the custody of more than one election worker. At no time are individual election workers allowed to be alone with ballots. As the ballots move from one step of the process to another, each transfer is logged to maintain a consistent chain of custody.

When ballot envelopes arrive at the Election Center they are logged and immediately placed into trays so their signature tabs can removed and they can be oriented for scanning on the Agilis machine. The Agilis machine scans every ballot envelope to perform three important functions:

First, it checks the Ballot ID against the voter database to verify its validity and see if any ballot with that number has already been returned, or if that voter has voted at an in-person vote center. It also checks that the Ballot ID corresponds to the name and Voter ID on the envelope. If the ballot envelope fails any of these checks, it is rejected.

Second, it scans the signature on the return envelope affidavit and compares it to signatures for that voter stored in the voter database. If the signature matches with a high degree of confidence, it is sent to be opened and counted. If not, it will be reviewed by human reviewers.

If it's determined that the signature on the affidavit doesn't match the signature in the database, a cure letter is sent to the voter which includes a request for a signed affidavit and additional identification. Once the cure letter is returned and verified, that voter's ballot may be opened and counted. If the voter's signature cannot be verified, the ballot must be rejected.

Third, the Agilis machine sorts the ballots into batches of 100 based on pre-determined criteria, such as district or municipality. Each batch is issued a unique ID number, so ballots can be tracked as they move through the counting process.

Envelopes that pass the Ballot ID check and signature screening are then sent to be opened. A special machine slices the envelope open, and the ballot is removed by an election worker. At this point, the ballot is separated from any identifying information, thus preserving the secrecy of the ballot.

Batches of ballots are then placed into batch boxes and sent to the tabulation room for scanning. As the ballots move to tabulation, the change of custody is logged.

Each batch of ballots is scanned individually. Data from the scanned ballots is sent to the election server, where it waits to be tabulated on election night.

Some ballots may have ambiguous marks on them, where the voter didn't fill in the oval as instructed. Ballots like this must go through the adjudication process before they can be counted.

Teams of two poll workers adjudicate ballots with ambiguous marks at computer workstations to determine a voter's intent. If both poll workers agree that the voter's intent can be discerned, they update the ballot accordingly and send it to be counted. Those with markings that cannot be discerned must be rejected. Ballots with their original markings can always be referenced if needed.

After 8pm on election night, flash drives containing voted ballots from in-person voting machines are returned to the Election Center by teams of police officers. The data from those drives is uploaded to the election server and joins the data from the scanned ballots to await tabulation.

Multiple times on Election Night, election results are tabulated and made available for the public to view on the County's website. These unofficial results are updated as more ballots arrive in the Election Center and are processed. All eligible ballots are counted and the results published prior to the review and certification of the results by the Board of Canvassers that has jurisdiction over the election.

The Path of Your Ballot

Vote by mail - the path of your ballot.

You may track your ballot's progress on the State of Utah's elections site.

1. Per state law, your ballot packet will be mailed 21 days before the election.

2. Your Ballot Packet includes

Your ballot
A postage paid return envelope with a signature affidavit
Ballot instructions and information

3. The U.S. Postal Service delivers the ballot packet to voters.

4. The voter makes their selections and places the ballot in the return envelope - following the instructions in #5 below.

5. 3-Step Ballot Return process

Insert ballot into the return envelope.
Sign the voter affidavit on the return envelope.
Seal the envelope.

6. Voter Returns Their Ballot

Through the USPS mail (first-class return postage paid)
At any of the 28 drive-up ballot drop boxes. (Collected daily)
At any voting center, including early voting locations.

7. Upon its return, the ballot is processed.

The barcode on the envelope is scanned, creating a return log and vote history for the voter. This ensures that only one ballot is accepted for each voter.

8. The voter's signature is verified.

The privacy tab on the ballot return envelope is removed, revealing the voter's signature. The signature is compared to that on the voter's record to verify that the voter signed the affidavit. The ballot remains sealed inside the envelope during this process.

After the signature is verified, the ballot is removed and separated from the return envelope, making the ballot anonymous.

9. The ballot is prepared for counting.

The ballot is prepared for counting. Ballots are carefully logged in and tracked during the tabulation process. Ballots are tabulated as they arrive in the Election Management Center, but results cannot be seen until the polls close and the Election Night Report is released.