NEWS RELEASE – Lt. Gov. Henderson releases Second Congressional District recount report

NEWS RELEASE
August 5, 2024

Contact:
Carlos Artiles Fortun
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
(801) 910-5547, cartiles@utah.gov

Lt. Gov. Henderson releases Second Congressional District recount report

SALT LAKE CITY (Aug. 5, 2024) – Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson today released a report detailing a software issue that impacted the recount process in two counties during the Second Congressional District recount. The error occurred within Election Systems & Software’s (ES&S) ElectionWare software, used for electronic adjudication of ballots.

The error caused a discrepancy in the vote count in Tooele and Washington Counties. Upon discovery of the error, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, working with county clerks and ES&S, took immediate steps to rectify the issue and ensure the accuracy of the recount results. It was determined that the error was isolated to these two counties and did not affect any other counties that used the software.

Importantly, the report emphasizes that the error was a result of a software malfunction and not human error. Election officials in both counties followed proper procedures and identified the discrepancy, leading to the discovery of the software issue.

“I am concerned about the software error that occurred, but glad that we were able to react quickly to understand its scope and impact and get it fixed in the recount. We will be investigating this further to ensure it never happens again.” Lt. Gov. Henderson continued, “I’m grateful to the county clerks and my elections team for their swift and thorough action to resolve this issue and ensure we met the recount deadline.”

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