In a monthslong review of Utah’s recent primary election, legislative auditors again “did not observe significant fraud” in the state’s elections, according to a report presented to state lawmakers Tuesday.

That finding comes as the U.S. Justice Department says it is investigating Utah’s top election official, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, for refusing to hand over the state’s entire, unredacted voter database.

Some fellow Republicans have criticized the probe as setting “a dangerous precedent of overreach,” while others, including Sen. Mike Lee, have applauded the Trump administration.

Auditors identified a handful of errors in the administration of Utah’s June primary elections.

Despite a significant decrease in the number of possibly dead people appearing on voter rolls in recent years, auditors identified 70 who were registered to vote in the recent election.

One-third of the potentially deceased people were categorized as “active,” meaning a ballot was sent to their listed address. None of those ballots were fraudulently cast.

According to the report, the Office of Records and Vital Statistics did not share death records for 25 of those people, limiting election officials’ ability to remove them from voter rolls.

The report also noted an instance of a Wasatch County resident voting twice; the voter cast the ballot they received in the mail and also voted in person at a polling place. After a limited review, auditors determined that was “the only likely double vote” in the state.

While speaking to the Legislative Audit Subcommittee on Tuesday, Deputy Elections Director Shelly Jackson asked that lawmakers work with election officials to reach a consensus on how to address issues rather than introduce new legislation.

“We do have concerns that overly prescriptive legislation will have the undesired effect of removing otherwise eligible voters, leading to disenfranchisement,” Jackson said.

After surveying county clerks as part of a risk assessment, auditors selected three counties where they more closely observed election administration: San Juan, Utah and Wasatch.

They identified a number of problems specific to those counties, many of which were tied to not fully implementing new changes to election law. The report recommended Henderson’s office use more of its enforcement authority — which has expanded in recent years — to ensure county clerks comply with those laws.

In their response letters, both Henderson and county clerks said they struggle to keep up with changes to election law year after year without the Legislature giving them more money to do so.

A 2025 overhaul of Utah’s election laws, Henderson pointed out, did not provide adequate funding to cover the costs it imposed. Fiscal analysts estimated election offices would have to pay more than $80,000 to put the changes into place, and $1 million annually to maintain the new systems.

“We would welcome the chance to fully implement new laws and have time to assess their effectiveness before substantial new changes are made,” Henderson wrote. “This would reduce both voter confusion and human error, and save taxpayer dollars.”

According to the Legislature’s website, the governor signed 10 election administration-related bills into law this year, and eight in 2025.