By Phil Lyman

Utah Code § 20A-4-402 governs the procedures for counting ballots and specifies how votes are handled when a candidate is disqualified. The key language in that statute explains that:

• If a candidate is disqualified before the election results are canvassed (i.e., officially reviewed and confirmed), votes for that candidate “may not be counted” during the canvassing process.

• The disqualified candidate’s votes are effectively nullified, meaning any votes cast for that candidate are treated as invalid and do not affect the outcome of the election.

The code ensures that votes for ineligible candidates do not count toward the final results, preserving the integrity of the election by only considering votes for valid candidates. However, it does not require the ballots to be reprinted or for any replacement candidate to be added to the ballot if the disqualification occurs late in the process, leaving the candidate’s name visible but votes uncounted. 

Spencer Cox failed to get his signatures. We believe he failed to win the primary election but, of course, the Lieutenant Governor, the very person against whom Natalie and I are running, has threatened county clerks who provide even the most basic election information to our campaign as a means to prove or disprove that hypothesis. 

Timing is crucial. The Democrats know that Cox is likely to be disqualified but it is in their interest to wait until all votes are cast but before the election is canvassed. Once he is disqualified, all his votes are null and void, and the next highest vote getter is declared the winner. 

The Utah GOP plotted to win a battle they didn’t fully understand. They thought they could prevent the convention winner and the people’s choice from becoming governor. Instead of a commitment to simple truth, they were led into a situation where all their careful planning will end up being futile, highlighting how overconfidence and complexity can lead to self-sabotage.

Cox must be disqualified immediately. It is ironic when people say it is the Lieutenant Governor that would have to be the one to disqualify him, and that she clearly would refuse. That alone tells you that the public views the current LG as untrustworthy. She also announced at the outset of the race that she would not have any role in her own election but had hired an independent arbiter, Greg Bell, to handle all aspects of the Governor/LG race.  Bell, who would likely fail  an independence test, has been entirely absent this entire race. Who has been denying each and every request for records and transparency? Who has been giving speeches and writing posts and articles condemning me and my campaign? Who disqualified my first LG candidate, Layne Bangerter, from even filling? Who has been advising the clerks to withhold all information from my team? Who goes so far as to appear on syndicated news channels with the Davis County Clerk and deride anyone who doubts or even questions her omniscience when it comes to this race - her race? Not Greg Bell. He has been entirely silent and entirely absent. 

The GOP could act quickly to disqualify Spencer Cox from the ballot, or to have Greg Bell disqualify him as his one act as the independent contractor, and reprint ballots with the Lyman/Clawson ticket listed as the Republican nominees before Election Day; or the GOP can let this play out and find themselves the victims of their own flawed strategy. Or, as Shakespeare’s Hamlet would say, “Hoist by their own petard.” Who will pay the price? Utah - the honest people who hope in vain that their representatives will reject popularity and expediency and, instead, do what is right. 

The “Utah syndicate” has called me a “sore loser,” an “election denier,” and so forth. I am none of those things.  I am also not intimidated by false authority.  We now have the Utah legislative audit report in hand, which shows that it appears Cox did indeed fail to get the required signatures to qualify for a primary election. Perhaps my claim of election tampering in the primary should be taken seriously by the courts and the critics as well.