Utah’s lieutenant governor criticizes her own party and warns of threats and fraud allegations as the election nears News, sports, jobs

Utah’s Republican lieutenant governor has strong words for candidates and their supporters who don’t accept the election results.

An attack on elections and the people who run them is an attack on freedom and free government, said Deidre Henderson.

“‘Heads I win, tails you cheat’ is not a fundamental principle of a free government,” she told reporters on Thursday.

It’s been a tumultuous election year for Henderson and election officials across the state, who reported an increase in threats and misinformation. The FBI is currently investigating an envelope containing white powder that was addressed to the lieutenant governor’s office last month, and Henderson has been accused for months of interfering in the state’s primary election.

She has been called a “traitor,” “corrupt,” and a closeted democrat on social media. Her recent decision not to support Donald Trump as a presidential candidate, as first reported by the Salt Lake Tribune, has sparked a new wave of criticism. Henderson said her office and county officials across the state now have personal protective equipment in case they find suspicious or threatening packages.

These attacks, Henderson said, are symptoms of a broader distrust of elections and election officials. And as Nov. 5 approaches, that rhetoric will intensify, she warned.

Voters will hear claims of rigged elections and corrupt judges; Reporters will press candidates on whether to accept the election results; Politicians and pundits will argue that voting by mail or machine is less accurate; It could take several days, perhaps even weeks, to get some results. Irregularities may be due not to some grand conspiracy but to human error.

“The last four years have seen more violence and unrest against our political institutions than in decades. And while we expect these destructive efforts to continue, we have learned much over the last four years and are prepared,” said Henderson. “I want to make sure you’re prepared too.”

Speaking Thursday to a room full of students, reporters, government officials and staff at the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics, Henderson criticized her own party for sowing distrust in elections and, as she said, leaning toward the outcome focus. rather than the process.

“If the result is something they don’t like, they will question everything,” she said.

Henderson described a mood that slowly built among some Republicans, starting in 2016 and reaching a new peak in 2020, where a fringe group of “campaigners” is now considered mainstream.

“Both parties are to blame for this. I understand that it’s becoming much more common in one party at the moment in an unprecedented way, so I don’t want you to think I don’t know that. I do,” Henderson said, describing a “certain candidate’s” efforts to “lay out the case for defeat before the election.”

Much of the rhetoric Henderson was referring to can be seen in the Trump wing of the Republican Party. That includes Rep. Phil Lyman, a Blanding Republican who lost his first bid for governor and has since unsuccessfully tried to argue that Gov. Spencer Cox committed fraud in the election and that Henderson did so in her role as lieutenant governor also does hiding evidence. Lyman is currently running a write-in campaign for governor.

But despite her criticism, Henderson did not mention any candidates or politicians by name. Asked whether she meant Lyman or Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson, both of whom said absentee voting is less secure, Henderson said she was referring to “anyone who makes those claims.”

Just hours after Thursday’s conference, Lyman posted on social media a message he has often repeated: “The primary election results cannot be verified because Cox and Henderson are requiring county officials to withhold basic election materials…Spencer Cox and Deidre Henderson are corrupt and illegitimate candidates.”

Although there are some moderate, less Trump-aligned candidates in Utah – outgoing Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, for example – Henderson said the narrative about a “stolen” election and voter fraud is just as prevalent here as in other states, and the candidates from Utah supported this narrative. That’s problematic, she told reporters.

“We’ve seen this snowball in the last few years in a way that, as I mentioned, it was easy to assume it was peripheral. And now I see it gaining momentum. And that’s what worries me. I worry that we have reached the tipping point. I worry that it has become normal to believe lies and abnormal to believe the truth,” she said.

“Doubt the doubters”

Henderson’s message to Utah voters was three-fold: First, “Doubt the doubters.” If someone spreads rumors that “shake your confidence in our elections, stop and ask yourself what the motivation might be.”

Doubt the doubters before doubting the entire system, Henderson said.

Candidates and their supporters should also commit today to accepting the results of the upcoming elections. Losing is part of the American process, she said: “Lose with grace, win with dignity.”

“Contrary to the claims of pundits and politicians on both sides, this will not be our last election, no matter who wins in November. The next one is just around the corner. “That’s what we do in the United States of America,” Henderson said.

And finally, the lieutenant governor urged voters to take control of their vote.

When ballots are mailed on October 15, make sure you are registered to vote, your address is updated and you know who is on your ballot. If you can, vote early, especially if you plan to mail in your ballot. Sign up for updates with your county clerk so you know when your ballot was received and counted. If you have any questions, please contact your clerk.

Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman, who was in attendance Thursday, said that before 2020, she never could have imagined that the state’s top election official would be talking about sending personal protective equipment to her office. Chapman said the county is developing a crisis plan and working with law enforcement if threats and intimidation increase.

“Since 2020, we’ve seen a lot more people interested in elections in general. “This includes people who simply want to understand the process better, to those who disagree with the election results and don’t believe in the system,” she said.

Like Henderson, Chapman acknowledged that there is a segment of the electorate that will never be swayed – both politicians agreed Thursday that there is nothing they can say to change their minds.

“I’m not going to be everyone’s best friend. I will always tell the truth and always follow the law. For some people it just doesn’t fit their paradigm, and I recognized that,” Chapman said.

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the largest statewide nonprofit news organization in the country.