More ballots mistakenly mailed in GOP race for Chaffetz seat

Election officials say Republican primary ballots for the special election to replace U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz were mistakenly sent to 1,400 unaffiliated voters in Utah’s Wasatch County.

Wasatch County clerk and auditor Brent Titcomb told the Deseret News his county is notifying voters of the accident and informing them that unaffiliated voters cannot participate in the closed Republican primary unless they register as Republicans.

They can do so if they come to the polls on the day of the Aug. 15 primary and register there.

Wasatch County’s mistake comes on the heels of a similar error Utah County last month. Officials there accidentally sent 70,000 ballots to unaffiliated voters.

Officials say the mistakes won’t derail the election because officials can identify unaffiliated ballots with a bar code and remove them before tallying votes.