This is your daily news rundown for Thursday, Oct. 29. In this edition:
- A small number of Weber County voters may have gotten duplicate ballots
- The LDS church donated $3 million to fight invasive phragmites on the Great Salt Lake
- Another northern Utah city decided not to use controversial Flock cameras
Some Weber County voters got duplicate ballots because of a printing error
A small number of Weber County voters may have gotten duplicate ballots in their envelopes due to a printing error.
Weber County Clerk and Auditor Ricky Hatch said that up to 167 people may have been affected. That’s about 0.1% of the county’s voters.
Hatch emphasized the county has three different processes to make sure duplicate ballots aren’t counted. They have a thickness detector on the envelope sorter, three people watching every ballot be cut open, and a check to make sure the number of ballots scanned is the same as the number of envelopes opened.
So far, four voters have returned envelopes with duplicate ballots, all found with those procedures.
If you get a duplicate ballot, no matter what county, only fill out one and tear up the extra one. You can find drop boxes near you on Utah’s election site.
The LDS church donates $3 million to fight invasive reeds around the Great Salt Lake
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is donating $3 million to fight an invasive plant species around the Great Salt Lake.
Phragmites are an aggressive reed species that grow in dense clumps, trapping sediment and degrading migratory bird habitat.
They also absorb tens of thousands of acre-feet of the lake’s water every year.
The state has been fighting phragmites for a decade now, with about $800,000 in annual state funds. The church’s donation will let those efforts continue and expand.
Vineyard City Council unanimously decides to remove Flock cameras
Vineyard is joining other northern Utah communities in removing Flock cameras.
When residents realized the license plate reader technology was in their area, some brought privacy concerns to the city council.
After working with the county’s sheriff’s office and ACLU of Utah, the city council then unanimously approved the resolution to ban the cameras.
It won’t happen immediately though, because the company’s agreement is with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, not the city. The resolution just says they have to cancel the contract at the earliest possible date.
Tremonton-Garland police, Washington Terrace, and Kearns also decided not to use Flock cameras this summer. It’s part of nationwide backlash against the technology.
