In a nation, an era and a political party where political courage is in short supply, Utahns can take heart that at least one of their elected officials is standing up for democracy.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, unlike most other Republicans in Utah and nationally, is not rolling over for President Donald Trump’s attack on free elections in general and mail-in voting in particular.
As Trump spreads more vitriol, and more lies, about the way the United States runs its elections, Henderson, who is in charge of elections in Utah, is standing by her state’s well-run exercise of democracy. She must be aware that, in today’s Republican Party, such truth-telling can be fatal to whatever political aspirations she may have. But she does it anyway.
The president claims that he has the power to tell states how to run their elections, which is false. That mail-in ballots aren’t available in any nation other than the U.S., which is false. And that voting by mail is rife with fraud, which is false.
“The constitutional right of individual states to choose the manner in which they conduct secure elections is a fundamental strength of our system,” Henderson said on the X social media platform.
Henderson has also rebuffed, at least for now, a federal demand that she turn over all state election data — much of which, by state law, is private — to an office fishing for evidence of irregularities.
Utahns like their choice to vote by mail. It was originally a Republican idea designed to boost voter participation in a state where that had been somewhat meager. Out of Utah’s 29 counties, 26 reported data showing that 96.7% of those who voted in the 2024 primary election voted by mail.
Mail-in voting makes sense in a state where many eligible voters live in remote areas or on Native American reservations. It helps the elderly and handicapped vote.
It gives every one of us time to peruse our ballots, research the candidates and issues, and vote at our leisure, instead of having to take time off from work or family duties just to be rushed through a process that allows for little reflection, in crowded public spaces that provide targets for violence
There is zero evidence of fraud or error.
Statements from Trump and his Beehive State toady, Sen. Mike Lee, that Americans don’t have faith in their electoral system are only true to the degree that too many Americans have been listening to the tales spread by Trump, Lee and others who, in Henderson’s words, “are sowing doubt and chaos and confusion for political gain.”
Among other Utah elected officials, only U.S. Rep. Blake Moore has stood by the constitutional system of state-run elections. The rest of our congressional delegation has apparently been struck dumb by their fealty to Trump.
The simple fact is that Utah is good at running elections, and particularly skilled at running mail ballot elections. Utahns should not stand still for federal officials who want to ruin what we have.
Editorials represent the opinions of The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board, which operates independently from the newsroom.
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