On the areas of ballot reconciliation and post-election audits, Demma also found fault with the study's conclusions. He said the group failed to recognize that even though poll workers are not legally obligated to fill out and return forms that reconcile the number of voters who sign in with the number of votes cast, it is done as a matter of course at every polling location throughout the state.

And as far as post-election audits, the practice has been legally required in Utah since a 2006 code change enacted by Herbert. Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said the audit requires doing a manual count of the votes recorded by the electronic machine to ensure it matches with the automated tally it produces.

"In 2006 we had teams of people unspooling paper tapes and manually counting to verify accuracy," Swensen said. "We treat those tapes as if they were ballots ... and the comparison counts have been spot on every time."

Demma said that in spite of the skewed findings of the report, its intent to aid states in rectifying problems before election day is a positive effort.

"The recommendations of this report are well-intended and do seek the right goals," Demma said. "Frankly, Utah has run impeccable elections ... and the six cycles that we've used this equipment for have run flawlessly."

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E-mail: araymond@desnews.com