EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah — Voters in Eagle Mountain have raised concerns around the recent primary elections that have grabbed the attention of local and even federal officials.
Stephanie Pacheco claims to have never missed out on her chance to vote.
“I’ve been a republican since Nixon was president. I turned 18 [then], and I’ve always been one, and I’ve never not voted,” said Pacheco.
On June 3, Pacheco’s daughter received an email from the U.S. Postal Service that showed their ballots were on the way.
“We got all the other mail that was listed for that day that was supposed to be here,” Pacheco said. “But the next day came and the next day came…and we didn’t get it.”
Pacheco missed out on the June 23 primary, and so she turned to Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson.
“These people were calling us saying, ‘We didn’t get ballots’," said Davidson. "They all seemed to be centralized in House District 50.”
Davidson reached out to voters in that district by email.
“I got up to around 304 people that said they did not receive their ballots,” Davidson said.
Pacheco wasn’t alone in missing out on the election because of the issue.
“It was frustrating," added ShaRee Curtis. "I would have liked to put in the vote, and it just wasn’t possible [for me] to go vote in person that day.”
Davidson said there was a notable drop-off in voter participation in the two Eagle Mountain precincts affected by the lack of ballots. He forwarded his findings to the USPS and says they uncovered what he called ‘nefarious activity’.
“They still won’t give me the details of what actually happened," said Davidson. "But they did tell me they turned it over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah responded to a request from FOX 13 News, saying they couldn't comment on 'any potential investigation or case on any matter not otherwise a part of the federal public court record.'
The USPS has yet to respond to questions from FOX 13 News.
The whole ordeal has left dozens and dozens of voters with plenty of questions themselves.
“I want to know more," Pacheco said. "I want to know who did it, why they did it.”
“It makes me wonder: did it really actually get in the hands of USPS?" Curtis asked. "Did USPS fail on their end of the job?”
With the midterms just around the corner, Davidson hopes they can get some answers.
“Because I think a lot of voters rely upon that ballot, especially during the primaries," he said. "They rely upon that ballot as a notification to say ‘Hey, I need to start getting informed.'”
