Commissioner Lee: Don’t want to ‘rubber stamp’ election certification | News, Sports, Jobs
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Kelcie Hartley, Each day Herald
Utah County commissioners, from left, Bill Lee, Tom Sakievich and Amelia Powers Gardner participate in a Utah County Fee assembly on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.

Utah County Commissioner Invoice Lee programs to address issues he has about the election consequence certifying process at Tuesday’s Board of Canvassers meeting.
Lee and Commissioners Tom Sakeivich and Amelia Powers Gardner all serve as users of the Board of Canvassers, who are supposed to vote to certify the GOP main election final results that happened two months back.
In an job interview with the Each day Herald, Lee said he needed to make clear “misguided information” in an report revealed early Monday by The Salt Lake Tribune.
The posting questioned the motives Lee could have to search for solid vote document, or CVR, facts from the Utah County Clerk’s business office. The details is a sum of votes cast devoid of voters’ own information, Lee explained, even though Utah County Clerk/Auditor Josh Daniels explained to the Tribune the launch of these kinds of info perhaps runs counter to the Utah Structure.
The Tribune post tied Lee to election fraud conspiracy groups. Lee misplaced to his challenger, Brandon Gordon, by less than 2,000 votes.
Lee stated he requested the CVR paperwork final week, reasoning that it is his job as a board of canvasser member to make an informed choice prior to voting to certify the election and not be a rubber stamp. He questioned the certifying method and stated he believes owning an outside get together audit the election outcomes would serene community fears on election stability.
“I sit on the Board of Canvassers, and I get that severely,” Lee stated. “I’ve had issues about the canvassing rule in excess of the many years. It is normally been variety of loose about what it suggests. For the most aspect, it implies the canvassers, the county commissioners, are intended to believe in and not confirm, which I consider is backwards due to the fact it’s established up for the canvassers to have the capacity to have a course of action to say that we really feel at ease with the election.”
Lee gave the case in point that condition Legislature involves county commissioners to have an outside the house audit carried out in the county’s financials. He feels one thing comparable should really be carried out for election final results.
“It provides us self esteem that somebody else is on the lookout at this as nicely and if there are fraudulent points taking place, hopefully they will spot it,” he stated. “Again, I’m not a qualified general public accountant and to just say, ‘You looked at it as commissioners and you voted on it, as a result it’s fantastic,’ does not imply the system is ideal. We use out for industry experts who offer with several regions. For me, when I’m looking at just one of the most vital processes that we deal with for elections, we are requested to belief and not validate.”
Owning an exterior source full an audit would also reduce any board member from producing their decision based mostly on individual explanations, Lee claimed.
“That’s why there’s splendor of obtaining an audit arrive in and look at everything all the way as a result of,” he said. “It holds so much excess weight simply because if we had an outdoors firm, hired by the fee, arrive by means of and do a report showing that all the things checked out and then I was to say I’m not certifying, that would be a dilemma.”
This is the initial election Lee stated he felt the need to have to ask for such files, detailing that his working experience and expertise has helped him question more challenging questions this time about.
“This will come from a experience of the community that we have to have to devote notice on this concern,” he said. “So, I’m reflecting that from the county to make guaranteed our elections are good. In the past, there wasn’t that come to feel from the county, and almost everything appeared great.
“As a county commissioner, I have to vote to certify the election. I really do not see just about anything suitable now that would adjust that from a certification. But what I do not know, I don’t know. If I’m not allowed to go by means of a process to get to that level, it will get definitely difficult to just blindly stand it and rely on but not confirm.”
Lee was not the only commissioner who asked for the CVR facts. Sakeivich told the Day by day Herald he asked for the documents since he was seeking for the assertion of votes forged.
“I was seeking for how we validate the votes introduced to the county,” Sakeivich claimed. “I experienced an job interview with some of the members of the clerk/auditor’s election workforce, and I experienced a two-hour evaluation of the complete approach this early morning of a random box of ballots to compare them to the digital readings of them.”
Sakeivich said it’s the accountability of the canvassers to evaluate and fully grasp how the course of action will work.
“When a person is elected into office, we are intended to be set into posture to double verify factors out of the populace, so we must do that. I am open up to other methods for this procedure. There has been such a shakeup all over the county on if elections have been taken care of or not, and it’s affecting us regionally. From what I can see, we are pretty good. We have third-get together audits on anything but elections. I’d be open to the strategy for the coming a long time, but I’m or else pleased with the process as it is so far.”
Lee explained he’s likely to current these problems at the Board of Canvassers meeting Tuesday.
“I have often been 1 to inquire tough questions, and I check with them for the reason that I don’t want a Potemkin board of canvassers,” he additional. “We want them to have actual power, go through the procedure and appear to a summary on their have due to the fact we have to vote. I would like to have other individuals search at it that are authorities in this space and see. I’m not claiming there is any fraud. The level is we place checks and balances of ability in spot so we can get to a stage in which we are comfortable.”
Daniels told the Day-to-day Herald he thinks there was a misunderstanding about what information Lee was requesting. The two had a assembly Monday afternoon to go above Lee’s pre-canvassing overview.
“I assume Commissioner Lee may have not been very clear on what documents are in the preview of the canvas and what are not,” Daniels explained. “I feel he was inquiring for anything that he thought was a part of the system, but I think we sorted by means of a large amount of that these days.
“A solid vote record is a one history that is created from each and every ballot that tells how the system counted each and every ballot. What Lee was inquiring was a summary of all of all those documents. Our program can generate that, but that’s not our process of the canvass. Generally it’s a summary of the outcomes.”
The Board of Canvassers meeting will be held in the County Commissioner chambers at 3 p.m. Tuesday.




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