SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — One day before the Utah U.S. Senator Primary, a local lawmaker is alleging election fraud.
Republican Rep. Phil Lyman posted these claims on social media.
“URGENT! Please share!!! I have had several reports from people claiming their in-person vote for Senator MIKE LEE was changed to Becky Edwards. The only option for in-person voting is to use voting machines at the county, which prints a receipt showing your votes. I’m told the printed receipts reveal this unauthorized shift. More concerning is the possibility of vote shifts even AFTER the receipt is printed. The machines are programmed with functionality to do exactly that… switch votes. We are finding evidence that the software absolutely has a back door. Please be vigilant. CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS. VOTE IN PERSON Document any anomalies or oddities with ANY race and post it here or PM me.”
The post has received mixed reviews from Utahns.
Thus far, there has been no proof of election fraud in the 2022 election cycle.
ABC4 spoke with Becky Edwards about the alleged election fraud.
Edwards is running against incumbent Sen. Mike Lee and Ally Isom.
“I am calling on Mike Lee to condemn these egregious and outlandish claims of voter fraud that are being perpetrated by some of our sitting officials here in the state of Utah,” said Edwards. “This may be how people deal with the uncertainty of the outcome of an election in D.C, but this is not how we do things in Utah. We have some of the safest and most secure election processes anywhere in the country. The voters of Utah can be completely confident that their votes are safe and secure and they will be counted as they filed them.”
We also reached out to Rep. Lyman to prove the election fraud claims but we have not heard back.
Sen. Lee provided ABC4 with this statement:
“As we look forward to Election Day, our campaign has every confidence in Utah’s elected county clerks and the Lieutenant Governor’s office to oversee free and fair elections. We thank them for their service.”
We asked Sen. Lee and his team if there is proof of Lyman’s claim but have not heard back.
We also reached out to Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s office because they oversee the elections.
It does not run the elections but keeps track of them.
She and her team issued the following statement:
“Yesterday, I saw a Facebook post alleging voting irregularities. My team and I immediately took action to track down the specific allegations and resolve the issue. The problem was a result of a small font size on one of the ballot marking machines. In Wasatch County, where the complaint occurred, fewer than eight voters have used the machine in question. Individuals who use the machines have three chances to verify and correct their ballots. Every voter who used the machine in question was able to cast a vote for their preferred candidates in the end. The county clerk has now corrected the issue by increasing the font size.Election security is my top priority. We appreciate people who reach out in good faith directly to us or their county clerk to elevate problems or concerns so we can take swift and appropriate action when needed.“
We also received this from Edwards’ and her team responding to both Lee’s statement and Henderson’s.
“It is not enough for Lee’s campaign staffer to express confidence in our elections. Instead, Utahns deserve a Senator who will show up and make a direct condemnation of any attempt to discredit a safe and secure election. This is especially important now that the Lieutenant Governor has confirmed the security of our voting machines, and successfully refuted the false accusations of ballot tampering. That is why I continue to call on Sen. Mike Lee to condemn, in person, all unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud coming from his supporters.”
You can watch this full story on ABC4 live at 4 and 5 p.m.