Camille Topham is your typical American voter who sought to cast her vote in Utah's June 25 primary elections.
Using the Beehive State's universal mail-in voting system, the Iron County resident and her family reportedly deposited their ballots into a local post box on June 23.
No Accountability for Voters Cozzens pledged to vote against certifying Iron County's election results until the postmark issue was resolved.
"Too many voters have vehemently contested the discrepancy, insisting they sent their ballots well before the cutoff date, with some claiming to have mailed them as early as June 22. I would not be keeping my oath of office if I certify that election," he reportedly said in an interview with local media outlets.
While the vote to certify Iron County's election results was originally scheduled for Monday, the locality's commissioners delayed the vote until Tuesday "To confer with state election officials and see if there is any wiggle room to count ballots," according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Utah law stipulates that counties must submit election results to the lieutenant governor "Within 14 days after the date of the election." In a 2-1 decision, the Iron County Commission voted Tuesday evening to certify the locality's election results, with Cozzens casting the single "No" vote.
Commissioner Mike Bleak and Sheriff Kenneth Carpenter, who temporarily assumed the position due to Commissioner Marilyn Wood's absence, expressed frustration that the 400 votes in question could not be investigated, but voted to certify anyway.
Bleak defended his decision by citing the deadline required under state law, while Carpenter expressed concern the county's "9,000-plus" votes would not be counted if the commission voted against certification.
Following Iron County's Tuesday vote, Rep. Celeste Maloy now leads challenger Colby Jenkins in the race to become the GOP nominee for the Beehive State's 2nd Congressional District by 214 votes, a 0.2-point margin.
"We've turned our elections over to it, and now we see the consequences of that." "We're a few hundred votes away, and there could be hundreds of ballots left out there," and whether Jenkins wins the seat could "Hang on whether or not the Postal Service did their job properly," he added.
Powers said the Jenkins campaign believes Utah's election laws should be changed to where the standard requirement is electors voting "In person" on "Paper ballots" on Election Day.
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