Utah State Auditor Tina Cannon presented findings from the Office of the Utah State Auditor (OSA) to the Government Operations Interim Committee from two separate reviews concerning the signature gathering and verification process. In response to complaints stemming from the 2024 election primaries, the OSA conducted a limited review of Utah’s election procedures to assess whether the signature validation method was reasonable and produced statistically accurate outcomes.
After the initial review, the OSA launched a second investigation in response to concerns about possible fraudulent activity. This investigation examined individual candidate petition signature packets to estimate the error rate of the signature verification process. To thoroughly identify any issues, the OSA manually re-verified more than 300,000 signatures. Additionally, the OSA’s Data Analytics Team developed custom software to enhance the review process—boosting efficiency by a factor of ten compared to manual verification and improving transparency.
“Every system has weaknesses,” stated State Auditor Tina Cannon. “The real challenge is identifying those weaknesses, understanding their consequences, and recommending meaningful corrective actions. This process is essential to reduce risk, ensure compliance with the law, and uphold the integrity and security of government operations.”
The role of the Office of the Utah State Auditor is to evaluate statutory compliance and refer any concerning findings to the Attorney General’s Office for further examination when potential criminal activity is identified. In this case, the OSA found evidence suggesting possible fraudulent activity during the signature-gathering process. The results were referred to both the Lieutenant Governor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office for appropriate action.
Following the reviews, three separate management letters were completed. Today’s presentation and the three letters are listed below and can be found at the following links:
- September 3, 2024 – Preliminary Management Letter to Lt. Governor’s Office
https://reporting.auditor.utah.gov/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=015Do0000017cLlIAI - December 19, 2024 – Management Letter to Attorney General’s Office
https://reporting.auditor.utah.gov/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=015Do0000017eVJIAY - January 3, 2025 – Final Management Letter to Lt. Governor’s Office
https://reporting.auditor.utah.gov/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=015Do0000017ezJIAQ - June 18, 2025 – Presentation to Government Operations Interim Committee
https://storage.googleapis.com/wp-media-osa/9dc75968-voter-signature-verification-.pptx.pdf
