Utah 2nd Congressional District Mail-in Ballots Rejection Challenge (State Court)

Petition filed by a GOP candidate for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District, Colby Jenkins, against Utah Lt. Gov. Diedre Henderson (R) and nine counties and county clerks challenging the counties’ decision to reject mail-in ballots cast in the June 25 Republican primary election with a late or invalid postmark. In Utah, mail-in ballots must be mailed and postmarked or otherwise received by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) before Election Day to be counted. Mail-in ballots are sent to two different USPS Area Distribution Facilities to be postmarked and processed depending on the county they were cast in, one located in Salt Lake City, Utah (ADF SLC) and the second in Las Vegas, Nevada (SCF Las Vegas). Jenkins alleges that 1,171 ballots which were mailed before the June 25 Republican primary election were postmarked by SCF Las Vegas after the election and therefore not counted in the primary. He argues that voters in the counties whose ballots would be processed at the SCF Las Vegas Location were not instructed that these postmarking delays required early mailing of their ballots. Jenkins claims that the lack of notice given to voters who would be impacted by this processing delay violates the state constitution and asks the Utah Supreme Court to order all counties in the 2nd Congressional District whose mail-in ballots were processed at SCF Las Vegas to count any ballots cast in the June 25 primary election that were rejected for a late or invalid postmark. 

RESULT: On Aug. 13, 2024, the Utah Supreme Court denied Jenkins’ petition. Mail-in ballots that were rejected in the June 25 primary election for a late or invalid postmark will not be counted in the election results.

Last updated: August 14, 2024 9:53 am EST