FARMINGTON—The election is over, but not for the Davis County Clerk’s Office. A post-election audit must be done to compare actual ballots to the electronic count. The results will then be presented to the county’s Board of Canvass on Dec. 6. The audit took place last Friday, Dec. 1 at the Davis County Administrative Building in Farmington.

“This is an exciting day,” said Davis County Clerk, Brian McKenzie. “This post-audit is a reconciliation that the equipment worked as it was intended to do.”

The public was invited to come in and watch the audit. “It’s the public’s process,” he said. “Citizens should be able to review what we’re doing.”

The Lt. Governor's Office selects a batch of ballots to be audited, McKenzie said. “We don’t select what gets audited. The audit is done by an independent source that reviews and does a reconciliation of where the ballot was received, whether it was challenged or rejected and balances that with the voter system used on election day.”

The audit team is made up of three citizens who have served as election poll workers in the past four years, said McKenzie. “They compare the original paper ballot that has been marked by the voter to the digital image captured to verify that it has been counted correctly.”

Ballots are not polled until election night, he said. “We have no idea the flow of votes, they’re not counted as they come in.”

Normally there are about 200 ballots in the batch selected by the Lt. Governor’s Office, McKenzie said. “If we find a discrepancy in the audit, we investigate it and provide a report to the Lt. Governor and the Board of Canvass.”

Election security is a top priority for all of us, he said. “We want to be transparent and open. Come in and observe the process. We love having citizens come in.”

McKenzie said another thing voters should know is they have until Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 5 p.m. to make sure their registration and party affiliation is up to date. Party affiliates cannot be changed after the deadline and will be in effect through the primary election.

“Looking at the elections next year, specifically the voting opportunities in March and the voting opportunities in June, your party affiliation will determine which events you can participate in,” said McKenzie. “We want to make sure that voters are aware of that, and that voters can make those decisions. Voters should have received a postcard in the mail reminding them of the deadline.”

To verify that their registration is current, or to make updates including party affiliation, voters can go to voter.utah.gov or come to the Davis County Clerk's Office, 61 S. Main Street in Farmington. For more information contact the Clerk’s Office at 801-451-3213.