June saw a hotly contested race play out between Utah Republican Rep. Celeste Maloy and her primary challenger, former Green Beret Colby Jenkins.

The results of that contest remain disputed, something which has prompted Utah's Supreme Court to get involved. 

Controversy over late-arriving ballots

According to the Washington Examiner, justices heard oral arguments on Friday regarding how 1,171 mail-in ballots should be treated.

The ballots were not included in the final election count as they were postmarked after the counting deadline. If they are excluded then the election win will go to Maloy, who currently leads Jenkins by 176 votes.

The Examiner noted that Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson's office has submitted a brief arguing that the post-deadline ballot should be discarded.

"While the Respondents are sensitive to the issues in this case and find it unfortunate that some voters’ ballots were not postmarked on time, they do not and cannot control the Postal Service," the brief read.

"Nor can they ignore the clear dictates of the law. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring that a ballot is returned on time lies with the voter," it went on to add.

Jenkins cites state constitution

In contrast, Jenkins maintains that excluding the ballots would be a violation of Utah's constitution, a point he asserted late last month.

UPDATE: The recount is underway in most counties. Our incredible A-Team volunteers are standing point as watchers.
In parallel today, we filed our "Writ of Mandamus" with the Utah Supreme Court requesting that the court require the counties to count ballots invalidated (late… pic.twitter.com/EHpOzMs2z6

— Colby Jenkins (@ColbyforUtah) July 31, 2024

"Take a look at the Utah Constitution, Article I, Section 17… from 1896!" the Republican challenger wrote in a social media post.

"'All elections shall be free, and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage,'" he continued before adding that this included the Post Office.

Federal judge ruled against Jenkins

Friday's state Supreme Court hearing came just over a month after U.S. District Judge David Nuffer ruled that Jenkins could not keep the July 22 election certification from going forward.

Following that decision, The Salt Lake Tribune quoted Maloy as saying that voting "is fundamental to our democratic republic and every Utah voter deserves to trust in the integrity of our elections."

"Our county clerks and their respective staffs do remarkable work," she continued. "I have a high level of confidence in the process and believe it will show their figures accurately determined the outcome in a close race," she stressed.