Republican challenger Rick Ellsworth defeated one-term incumbent Sheriff Allen Campbell by 20 votes in the November 2006 balloting.
Class A misdemeanor charges were filed in March against 51 people who allegedly did not reside in Daggett County but provided false registration information and cast ballots in the tiny, isolated county along the north slope of the Uinta Mountains. The charge carries up to a $2,500 fine and one year in jail.
Fourteen of the 51 had listed Ellsworth's parent's address as their place of residence.
More arraignments are expected next month.
Ellsworth, who has been in office since January 2007, has not been charged with of any wrongdoing.
The Utah Attorney General's Office was unable to identify a ringleader behind the alleged fraud, according to spokesman Paul Murphy.
"The allegations [against Ellsworth] were there, but that was essentially impossible to prove," he said.
According to state records, the AG received a complaint from Campbell on Oct. 30, 2006, concerning perceived irregularities in the Daggett County voter registrations. He noted then that the voter roles had grown by 211 names - although nobody had moved into the county of 927 full-time residents.
"I think we have voter fraud occurring ... " Campbell wrote to the attorney general prior to the election.
Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's office - charged with supervising elections - did not receive the complaint until Nov. 13, 2006, six days after ballots were cast.
However, Herbert noted that his office did talk with the former sheriff by telephone in October 2006.
Nonetheless, under state law, it is too late for Campbell to contest the election.
