Henderson town hall focuses on voting, election security
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- Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson speaks during a town hall held in Spanish Fork on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
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- Ryan Cowley, Utah’s director of elections, speaks while Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson listens during a town hall in Spanish Fork on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
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- Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson speaks during a town hall held in Spanish Fork on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
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- State Sen. Mike McKell applauds during a town hall held by Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson in Spanish Fork on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
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- Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson speaks during a town hall held in Spanish Fork on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
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- Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson speaks during a town hall held in Spanish Fork on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
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- A town hall attendee takes a photo of Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson while she speaks at the town hall in Spanish Fork on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
Back in her former stomping grounds, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson came to the River Bridge Event Center in Spanish Fork on Thursday for a town hall discussion. With a crowd entirely comprised of Utah County residents, outside of one attendee from Salt Lake, the topic of the evening was clear from the start — elections.
Joined in the front of the room by Ryan Cowley, the director of elections in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Henderson kicked off the evening with a speech about the office’s role and responsibility in regards to voting and her personal and professional history in politics.
“The people who run our elections are really good people. They’re our neighbors and they all care about making sure that we have secure elections, safe elections, and that people have access to the ballot — eligible people have access to the ballot,” she said.
Henderson was also asked why her office hasn’t released a full list of voters in the state. She explained that voter information is not stored and listed on the state level, but at each county. “I can’t just make stuff up, I have to follow the law,” Henderson said.
Directly after was a question surrounding a forensic audit of the election done on the state level. Her answer was straightforward — an audit is done as results come in, and that state statutes dictate results are stored, sealed and unseen, for 22 months before being disposed of.
Ranked-choice voting was another topic of the evening. A handful of cities statewide and in Utah County use ranked choice already, and a bill making it the standard in Utah was raised in the state Legislature before, ultimately, being pulled by Rep. Mike Newton.
“I think that was probably the right thing to do,” Henderson said. “As far as my office was concerned, we were kind of agnostic on that policy. We just want to make sure that administratively we can run this.”
She added that she would like to see kinks in the system be worked out before being expanded further and reiterated that elections are not run by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office.
While questions bounced around different aspects of the election process, eventually, one went right to the meat of the constituents’ worry — how they can provide voter confidence in the safety of elections.
“There is a burden of duty on the individual as well to make sure they are acting in good faith, that they are acting with integrity themselves,” Henderson said.
A question surrounding interstate sharing of voter registrations, to make sure people aren’t registered in multiple states, gave Cowley an opportunity to dispel conspiracy theories around ERIC — the Electronic Registration Information Center.
He pointed out that there is no funding around the program coming from Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of Facebook, or billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Soros is a Jewish investor and is often centered in right-wing conspiracy theories around everything from voter fraud to COVID-19.
Asked about how additional requirements are “akin to Jim Crow laws,” Henderson smiled and looked to the side before testifying against “arbitrarily making it more difficult” for people to vote.
She discussed people’s constitutional right to vote, and the state constitution’s guarantee that residents of Utah can vote without being denied the opportunity. Calling herself a “small-government conservative,” Henderson said she feels that adding barriers — eliminating mail-in voting or necessitating drivers licenses — violates people’s rights.
When asked about efforts to combat falsehoods around voting and voter fraud, Henderson said, “I don’t fault anybody for believing what they believe.” Henderson added that the best tool for fighting misinformation is to be informed and find accurate information. She also encouraged people to speak directly with election administrators rather than relying on the internet or the news.
Cowley also assuaged the crowd by telling them that no voting tabulation tools are ever connected to the internet, for any elections across the state. Cowley joined the Lieutenant Governor’s Office recently after previously working as the Weber County elections director.
Henderson also had the opportunity to tell her personal story when asked about difficulties and experiences as a woman in elected office.
“Women and men have different life experiences and different perspectives,” Henderson said. She added that the different perspectives provide a better view overall of the state and the varying needs of residents.
Henderson is the second woman to hold the office of lieutenant governor, after Olene Walker. There has never been an elected female governor or U.S. senator from Utah.
While more than happy to answer people’s questions and tell the truth, Henderson knew there was no way to guarantee every person would agree with every answer, eventually saying, “If you don’t like me, you can vote me out in the next election. And that’s OK!”
Henderson also encouraged people to reach out to elected officials to share ideas, concerns and any thoughts around legislation or general governance.
Before winning her campaign for lieutenant governor, Henderson was the state senator for southern Utah County, including Spanish Fork. In attendance was the sitting senator for the district, Mike McKell. Henderson also previously worked for U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz for part of his time in Congress.