{"id":2090121,"date":"2023-11-04T14:01:01","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T18:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-utah-county-clerk-facing-charges-for-mishandling-election-ballots\/"},"modified":"2023-11-04T14:02:54","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T18:02:54","slug":"former-utah-county-clerk-facing-charges-for-mishandling-election-ballots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-utah-county-clerk-facing-charges-for-mishandling-election-ballots\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Utah County Clerk charged for mishandling ballots."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-utah-county-clerk-facing-charges-for-mishandling-election-ballots%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2090121&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Photo by\u2064 JASON REDMOND\/AFP via \u2063Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>OAN\u2019s <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/tag\/abril-elfi\" target=\"_blank\">Abril Elfi<\/a><\/h2>\n<h3>10:37 \u200bAM \u2013 Saturday, November 4, 2023<\/h3>\n<p>Utah prosecutors have filed 8 charges against former county clerk Alaina Lofgran in connection to the mishandling and shredding of ballots from both the 2020 and 2022 elections. <\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-3\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px; text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-3'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Lofgran was \u200ccharged \u2063with\u2062 8 criminal charges which include three\u200b felonies and other counts for the\u2062 alleged shredding and mishandling of election ballots soon after the 2022 election as law requires them \u2064to be\u200c kept for at least 22 months after. <\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors allege\u2063 in\u2064 charge documents filed\u2063 in Utah state court Thursday \u2063that Lofgran improperly handled 2020\u2062 election \u2062votes, keeping them \u2064in a basement storage facility accessible by \u2064various county employees \u2064and plainly visible.<\/p>\n<p>Lt. Governor Deidre\u2063 Henderson (R-Utah.) released a \u200cstatement on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, saying that \u201cpublic trust demands accountability of those who swear oaths\u2064 to fulfill \u200ctheir duties with fidelity and \u200bthen fail to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote data-service=\"twitter\" data-category=\"marketing\" data-placeholder-image=\"https:\/\/c3.oann.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/complianz-gdpr\/assets\/images\/placeholders\/twitter-minimal.jpg\" class=\"cmplz-placeholder-element twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today, criminal charges were filed against former Juab County Clerk\/Auditor Alaina E. Lofgran.<\/p>\n<p>These charges are serious. Public trust demands accountability of those \u200cwho \u200cswear oaths to fulfill their duties with fidelity and then fail to do so.<\/p>\n<p>My full statement is \u2064below. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TqOytQGPPC\">pic.twitter.com\/TqOytQGPPC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lt. \u2063Gov. Deidre M. \u200dHenderson\u200b (@LGHendersonUtah) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LGHendersonUtah\/status\/1720234094682886162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-service=\"twitter\" data-category=\"marketing\" async data-cmplz-src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The \u2064allegations stemmed from a 2022 lawsuit filed against Juab and seven \u2064other Utah counties in search of 2020 election records. <\/p>\n<p>According to \u200dthe charging document, a state judge ordered Lofgran to keep\u200d records from the 2020 election during the\u2063 case.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit was dismissed, but Lofgran appealed, \u200dresulting in a second court decision preserving \u200dthe 2020 election results.<\/p>\n<p>A \u2063witness allegedly \u2062saw \u2062Lofgran place 2022 ballots in a \u2062\u201cshred bin\u201d in a huge closet near the clerk\u2019s office shortly after the\u2064 election. The ballots had\u200c to then be removed from the shred bin\u200d for a\u200c recount, but a deputy \u2062clerk allegedly witnessed Lofgran \u200breplace them later.<\/p>\n<p>Lofgran allegedly told the deputy clerk that she shredded the ballots\u2063 because the election reports were done and \u2064they\u2063 \u201cdon\u2019t need them anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The former \u2063clerk allegedly\u2064 told\u200b investigators that \u2063she \u2063understood she had to keep the ballots\u2062 because she would be\u200c prosecuted if \u2063she didn\u2019t, and that she was aware \u200bof the \u200dcourt order to save 2020 documents\u200c because of the pending lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators inspected the county offices and a basement room accessible to many county employees in March. They were allegedly unable to locate any of the 4,795 ballots cast in the 2022 general election and\u2062 only a portion of the \u200c5,932 ballots cast \u200din \u2064the 2020 general\u2062 election.<\/p>\n<p>Lofgran faces felonies for deliberate neglect of\u2063 duty, damaging or concealing ballots,\u200d and destroying public records, as well as misdemeanors\u2063 for two charges of\u200c incorrect \u200ddisposition of ballots \u200band two counts \u200bof unofficial misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>Stay informed! Receive \u2064breaking news blasts \u200ddirectly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/alerts\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.oann.com\/alerts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"rc-widget-10bad2\" data-rc-widget data-widget-host=\"habitat\" data-endpoint=\"\/\/trends.revcontent.com\" data-widget-id=\"278641\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"dpsp-share-text\" style=\"margin-bottom:10px\"> \t\t \t\tShare this post!\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>One California resident\u2064 who was visiting family in Israel, attended the\u200c music festival , where more than 200 people were massacred by Hamas. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Critical Race\u200b Theory continues to infiltrate school \u2064districts across the country. But some \u200care standing up to CRT. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>As Democrats seek\u200b to prosecute\u2063 Republicans for contesting the 2020 election, the party admits\u2062 that fraud has \u200crecently occurred across numerous states \u2064in \u2062recent months. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Virginia and New Jersey will head to the polls Tuesday to determine the makeup of \u2064their state legislative chambers.\u2062 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>The British PM championed\u200d a series of landmark agreements after the first AI safety summit,\u2063 but a global \u2062plan for overseeing the technology remains a long way off.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Elon Musk\u2019s artificial intelligence startup xAI will release its first AI model to a select group on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>PayPal added nearly $4 billion to its market value after a pledge to turn \u201cleaner\u201d fired up investors.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>China\u2019s most \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-seeks-to-block-jetblues-spirit-airlines-deal-at-trial\/\" title=\"US aims to prevent JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit Airlines through legal proceedings.\">popular social media platforms announced<\/a> that \u201cself-media\u201d accounts\u200c with more than 500,000 followers will be asked to display real-name\u2064 information<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> rnrn  <\/p>\n<h2> How does the mishandling and\u200d shredding of election ballots \u2063by the former Utah County Clerk\u200c impact public accountability\u2064 and trust in the electoral process?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Title: Former Utah County Clerk \u2062Charged with Mishandling and Shredding \u200bElection Ballots<\/p>\n<p>Introduction<\/p>\n<p>Utah prosecutors have \u200crecently filed eight charges against Alaina Lofgran, the former county clerk, \u200bfor her alleged mishandling and shredding of ballots from both\u200c the 2020 and 2022 elections. \u200cLofgran now\u2062 faces criminal charges, including felonies, for her role in the improper disposal of vital election documents. This incident has raised concerns \u2062regarding the integrity and security of the \u2064electoral process,\u2062 emphasizing the significance of upholding public trust\u2063 in the\u200d system.<\/p>\n<p>Events \u2062Leading to the Charges<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Lofgran was formally\u200b charged with eight criminal offenses, including three felonies, \u2062related to the \u2062shredding and\u2062 mishandling of election ballots\u200b shortly after\u200b the\u2064 2022\u200c election. \u200dState \u2063laws \u2063mandate that \u2064these documents be preserved for at least 22 months following an election. The charges assert that Lofgran inappropriately\u2063 dealt with the 2020 election \u2062votes, storing them in a basement facility accessible to various county employees\u200d and \u2062clearly visible.<\/p>\n<p>Public Accountability<\/p>\n<p>Expressing her \u200cconcerns, \u2063Lt. \u2064Governor Deidre \u200dHenderson (R-Utah) stated on a \u2062social\u200b media platform that &#8220;public trust demands accountability of\u2063 those who \u200dswear oaths to fulfill their duties\u2064 with\u2062 fidelity\u2064 and \u2062then fail to do so.&#8221; Her statement highlights the importance of holding individuals\u200c accountable for their actions, especially \u2063when it involves the handling of \u200dimportant and sensitive election materials.<\/p>\n<p>Legal \u2063Proceedings<\/p>\n<p>The charges against Lofgran stemmed from a\u2063 lawsuit filed in 2022 against Juab County and several other Utah counties to obtain the 2020 election\u2064 records. During the case, a\u200d state judge ordered Lofgran to preserve the\u2062 2020\u200d election documents. Although the lawsuit was eventually dismissed, Lofgran appealed the\u2062 decision, resulting in a\u200b second court order to retain the 2020 election results.<\/p>\n<p>Witness Testimony and Allegations<\/p>\n<p>According to witness testimony, Lofgran \u2063allegedly placed 2022 ballots in a shred\u200c bin in a large closet close to \u2063the clerk&#8217;s office soon after the election. These ballots \u2062had to be removed from the bin for a recount,\u200b but a deputy clerk reportedly observed Lofgran\u2064 later replacing them.\u200c Lofgran justified her actions by claiming that the \u2063election reports\u2063 were completed and the ballots were no longer needed. However, she \u200dallegedly informed investigators that she understood the obligation to retain the ballots and was aware \u200dof \u2064the court order due to the pending lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>Investigation and Missing Ballots<\/p>\n<p>Following these \u200ballegations, investigators examined the county offices and \u200ba basement room accessible to numerous county employees in March.\u200b However, they were unable to locate any of the 4,795 ballots cast in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former county clerk Alaina Lofgran in Utah faces 8 charges for mishandling and shredding ballots from the 2020 and 2022 elections. Prosecutors filed the charges on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2196,"featured_media":2090122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2090121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oann"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2090121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2090122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2090121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2090121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2090121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}