Utah County's 'fast cast voting' system on hold for municipal primary elections

PROVO — Utah County will place its controversial “fast cast voting” system on hold for the upcoming municipal primary elections after it failed to reach an agreement with state election officials to approve the practice, Clerk Aaron Davidson announced Wednesday.

Davidson has touted the program — which allowed voters to scan their mail-in ballots into a vote counter at in-person polling places after showing identification — as more secure than mailing ballots in and relying on signatures to verify a voter’s identity. But state election officials have expressed concern with the method, which is unique to Utah County, and blamed it for discrepancies in the county vote totals, which saw 19 more ballots cast than voters who checked in at polling locations during last year’s primary election.

“Signature verification has been shown in recent legislative and state audits to be a subjective process, which is something I have raised concerns about since taking office,” Davidson said in a statement. “Fast cast voting was our innovative solution to let voters prove their identity in person and have their ballot counted without waiting in line or relying on signature verification.”

A legislative audit from late last year found some errors in validating signatures on ballot access petitions for several Republican candidates, and former state Auditor John Dougall recommended more transparency in that process.


https://www.deseret.com/utah/2025/07/28/utah-countys-fast-cast-voting-system-on-hold/