Criminal charges possible in illegal-voting case

The Utah Attorney General's Office plans to investigate the possibility of criminal charges after a legislative audit found evidence illegal immigrants may have voted.

The Office of the Legislative Auditor General is in the process of turning over its information to the attorney general on an audit conducted during the past legislative session — which found 14 people believed to be noncitizens had voted in an election.

In response to a Deseret Morning News public information request, the auditor's office said a recent follow-up investigation found that six of the 14 were U.S. citizens; and two were confirmed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as "prior deport — subject to immediate arrest."

The auditor's office found no record of the other six and could not confirm their citizenship status.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Kirk Torgensen said he will assign a deputy to look at the information, which is expected to arrive at his office later this week. Torgensen said his office will determine the scope of any investigation after examining the details and will be in touch with county attorneys.

"I understand why people would be concerned if people who don't have a right to vote are voting," Torgensen said. "That's one of the reasons we'll go ahead and take a look at the particulars."

At the request of Michael Cragun, director of the Elections Division of the Lieutenant Governor's Office, the auditor's office compared ITIN numbers (tax numbers issued to those who don't qualify for Social Security numbers) and names of the 14 individuals with records from the Utah State Tax Commission, and found three were citizens whose Social Security numbers were mistyped. Three others were identified as naturalized U.S. citizens.

Cragun said he is satisfied that it appears an investigation will take place.

"Really all I was trying to do is facilitate an investigation to determine whether or not the law had been broken," he said. "It's a big deal that someone who is not eligible to vote has cast a ballot. That's why it's against the law and why we have the ability to prosecute."

The original audit was released the same day as legislation, sponsored by Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, to repeal illegal immigrant driver licenses and state ID cards. The legislation, now law, instead created a driving privilege card that cannot be used for identification.

Cragun said the new driving privilege card, along with a new statewide voter database that will eventually include all Utah counties, should help.

"It gives us an added measure of protection against fraud," he said. "It's always been a crime to vote illegally. . . . It might be easier to detect the crime."