Salt Lake City — The Alliance for a Better UTAH has issued the following statement in response to the Lt. Governor’s Office’s decision to appoint special counsel to investigate the election law violation petition filed on behalf of Crystal Young-Otterstrom and Maryann Martindale.
“We are pleased that the Lt. Governor’s Office is recognizing the gravity of the election law violation claims and has determined that a number of the claims have merit and should be referred to special counsel for investigation. This is a huge victory for the citizens of Utah and the integrity of public office. Nevertheless, we are also interested in the Lt. Governor’s Office’s dismissal of certain of the claims and we look forward to reviewing more information about the Lt. Governor’s investigation into these matters to determine if the Lt. Governor acted reasonably and appropriately.
“It is unclear why the Lt. Governor’s Office has elected to seek special counsel through an RFP (Request for Proposal) process, rather than appointing a County District Attorney, such as Sim Gill, as special prosecutor. However, since this is the process being followed, we hope that the Lt. Governor’s Office will select the most unbiased and qualified candidate for the position and will not use this selection process for further unnecessary delay in the resolution of these outstanding election complaints against the Attorney General.
“We note that the Utah Legislature, through the election law, has made it clear that the remedy for an election law violation is removal from office.
“Finally, while we are pleased that these election law violation complaints are moving forward, we remain concerned that the growing number of complaints and investigations against the Attorney General all deserve timely disposition and resolution, including the Federal criminal investigations and the local Bar Association complaints.”
———
Alliance for a Better UTAH | 801.557.1532 | www.betterutah.org
———
The Alliance for a Better UTAH is a year-round, multi-issue education and advocacy organization providing resources, commentary, and action on important public policy matters.