What Utah's mail-voting study found, and what ID checks at drop boxes would cost

Why the study exists

Utah Valley University researchers presented the study to the Legislature's Government Operations Interim Committee on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. HB 311, which took effect May 6, directed UVU's Gary R. Herbert Institute for Public Policy and its Center for Constitutional Studies to study the security risks of in-person voting versus voting by mail, and the best practices for checking identification at a ballot drop box. ^[1]

The bill required comparisons with states that do not use mail voting as the primary method, an analysis of potential and actual fraud, the accuracy of voter rolls, and the logistics, wait times, costs and ballot processing of a drop-box ID check. ^[1] The Salt Lake Tribune reported the study cost $100,000 and followed a late-session compromise after the Senate blocked a House proposal, HB 479, that would have put two poll workers at each drop box. ^[2]

What the researchers found

The report concluded that neither in-person nor mail voting is inherently more secure and that both remain subject to many of the same risks, according to the Tribune. It said returning to in-person voting would likely not change Utah's election security, and that Utah already verifies voter identity twice. ^[2][3]

It found no evidence of significant or widespread fraud in Utah, and said reported fraud does not increase when in-person states switch to mail voting. Of 2,276 cases in national databases from 2000 to 2019, 51 were in Utah, all tied to one 2006 mayoral election in Daggett County. The researchers also said Utah's move to mail voting raised participation, with the largest jumps in rural counties, and that the information available about election fraud remains limited. ^[4]

Three ways to add an ID check

Staffed drop boxes: the report called this the only option that meets all of lawmakers' requirements. It would stretch the average drop-off from about one minute to four, so five cars arriving together would wait about 20 minutes, and about 430,000 ballots are returned to drop boxes in the last two days of an election. The Tribune reported costs of about $1 million up front and $8.1 million in labor each election year, and said the researchers called those estimates far from comprehensive because they leave out traffic control, law enforcement and supplies. ^[2][4]

Smart drop boxes: replacing Utah's 323 drop boxes with Sentinel smart boxes, which photograph ballot envelopes and voters but do not verify identity, would cost at least $4.4 million plus at least $4.3 million in software subscriptions, not counting the labor to review the images. ^[2][4]

State digital ID: the researchers did not estimate a cost, saying the approach raises several legal and logistical questions and needs more technical development. ^[2]

What happens next

Lawmakers asked few questions and did not discuss changing the existing plan, the Tribune reported. ^[2] Under a 2025 law, starting in 2029 Utah will stop mailing a ballot to every active registered voter, and voters will have to opt in. ^[2] Nearly 95% of votes counted in the June 2026 primary came by mail or drop box, the Tribune reported in August. ^[5]

The researchers cautioned that restrictive rules can reduce turnout, citing a Kansas proof-of-citizenship law that would have blocked about 31,000 eligible citizens before a court struck it down, and advised weighing changes against their costs rather than making many at once. ^[4]