Weber County official to take over as Utah’s top election official
Photo supplied, Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office
Ryan Cowley, head of the Weber County Elections Office, will take over as Utah's top election official on Dec. 13, 2021. Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson announced Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, that he had been named to the post.OGDEN — Weber County’s top election official will take over as Utah’s top election official.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson announced Monday that Weber County Elections Office Director Ryan Cowley will take over as head of Utah’s Office of Elections, helping oversee duties related to administration of elections statewide. He takes over from Justin Lee, who left the post in late July to take over as director of government relations for the Utah League of Cities and Towns.
“Ryan brings such a wealth of experience to the office,” Henderson said in a statement. Under his leadership, she said, she’s confident “Utah’s elections will remain safe, secure and transparent.”
Cowley will start in the new post on Dec. 13 and, in the meantime, Weber County Clerk-Auditor Ricky Hatch, who oversees the Weber County Elections Office, said he’ll start the search for a replacement. “I’m super happy for him and happy for the state,” Hatch said.
Hatch will look internally and externally and hopes to find a successor to Cowley, who was in the Weber County post for six years, by the end of January. “Fortunately, we’ve got such a great team assembled there is no rush. They have things under control fully,” Hatch said.
During the next election cycle, in 2022, Utah’s four U.S. House seats and the U.S. Senate seat held by Mike Lee will be up for election, as well as Utah House members across the state and some Utah senators, among others. It’ll be the first cycle with the redrawn political boundaries reflecting the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau head count that were approved by lawmakers and signed into law last month.
Cowley has helped with the transition to mail-in balloting in Weber County and, in conjunction with Weber State University, helped create a professional elections certification program for election workers statewide. Henderson’s statement also noted that he’s been “an important voice in Utah’s elections innovations” for the past 10 years.
“As an experienced elections administrator, I know how critical this process is to our democracy and I look forward to using my experience to continue the tradition of well-run, secure and accessible elections in Utah,” Cowley said in a statement.