Republican incumbent Mia Love has filed suit against Salt Lake County seeking to stop the counting of ballots in her extremely close re-election bid against Democrat Ben McAdams.
Love’s campaign wants to stop the counting of ballots until they are allowed to challenge the verification of signatures on ballots. They’re also asking that votes remain uncounted until they can complete their challenge.
On Wednesday afternoon, Love trailed McAdams by just 1,229 votes.
The 4th CD covers parts of both Salt Lake and Utah Counties, but Love is only challenging the counting of ballots in Salt Lake County. Conventional wisdom holds that many of the remaining votes in the Salt Lake County portion of the 4th District are Democratic, while those in Utah County favor Republicans.
Love’s campaign is also asking for county election officials to stop verifying and counting provisional ballots until they can have a chance to challenge the signatures on those ballots.
In response, McAdams, who currently serves as Salt Lake County Mayor, tweeted “It is the job of election officials to decide what votes count, not political candidates. Rep. Love’s decision to sue only in SLCo as she continues to trail in this race is unfortunate and smacks of desperation. Utah voters deserve better than this”
It is the job of election officials to decide what votes count, not political candidates. Rep. Love’s decision to sue only in SLCo as she continues to trail in this race is unfortunate and smacks of desperation. Utah voters deserve better than this. #utpol https://t.co/XjvGX6sdaU
— Ben McAdams (@BenMcAdams) November 14, 2018
The lawsuit notes that the county has allowed poll monitors to observe the signature verifying process, but there is not a process for them to challenge those signatures.
