Former Juab County Clerk/Auditor Alaina Lofgran has been charged with three felonies and other counts related to the mishandling of ballots from the 2020 and 2022 elections. The charges stem from Lofgran allegedly shredding and improperly storing ballots from Juab County, Utah. Approximately 5,000 voters were affected by these alleged misdeeds in the desert area of west-central Utah, which has a population of about 12,000 residents.
One of the charges against Lofgran is for allowing the shredding of ballots soon after the 2022 election, in violation of a law that requires the preservation of ballots for at least 22 months to aid in potential recounts. Additionally, prosecutors claim that Lofgran stored the ballots from the 2020 election in an accessible basement storage room that was visible to multiple county employees, contrary to the state law that mandates secure storage.
Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson expressed the seriousness of the charges and emphasized the importance of county clerks upholding election law. Henderson stated that public trust requires accountability from those who take oaths to fulfill their duties faithfully.
Lofgran, who served as Juab County clerk from 2015 until this year, did not seek reelection in 2022. When reached for comment, she declined but mentioned that she would provide a statement after consulting with her attorney.
The charges against Lofgran come after a lawsuit was filed against Juab County and several other Utah counties seeking records from the 2020 election. During the lawsuit, a state judge instructed Lofgran to preserve the records from that election. Although the lawsuit was initially dismissed, it was later appealed, resulting in a second court order for Lofgran to preserve the 2020 election results.
According to a witness, Lofgran allegedly placed the 2022 ballots in a shred bin soon after the election. Although the ballots were later supposed to be removed from the bin for a recount, a deputy clerk reportedly saw Lofgran putting them back in. Lofgran allegedly told the deputy clerk, whose name is withheld in the charging document, that the election reports were completed and no longer needed.
A shredding company subsequently removed the shred bins. Lofgran allegedly acknowledged to investigators that she was aware of her obligation to preserve the ballots and understood that failure to do so could lead to prosecution. She was also aware of the court order to preserve the 2020 records due to the ongoing lawsuit.
In March, investigators conducted a search of the county offices and the basement room accessible to multiple county employees. During the search, none of the 4,795 ballots cast in the 2022 general election were found, and only some of the 5,932 ballots cast in the 2020 general election were located.
Lofgran now faces charges of willful neglect of duty, destroying or concealing ballots, and destroying public records, all of which are felonies. She also faces two misdemeanor charges of improper disposition of ballots and unofficial misconduct.
Notably, the charging documents do not suggest that Lofgran had any political motivation behind her actions. In recent years, there have been cases of clerks facing legal consequences for tampering with voting equipment and technology amid false claims of election fraud made by former President Donald Trump. For instance, former Colorado clerk Tina Peters is facing charges for allegedly attempting to breach voting system technology after the 2020 election. In Michigan, Stephanie Scott, a small-town clerk who cast doubt on President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, was stripped of her election duties in 2021 due to accusations of mishandling voting equipment.
