This week’s Salt Lake City Weekly has a feature article on Bruce Funk, the former Emery County Clerk. Funk continues to be a voice against inadequate voting machines and for voting integregity.
This March, Funk became the nation’s second county election official to test the new wave of vote-by-computer machines by bringing in computer technicians to try to hack one. A few weeks later, Funk was out on his ear. Depending on whom you believe, he either resigned in frustration or was maneuvered out of the office to which he was so often re-elected he’s lost count of how many terms he served.
Earlier this month, Funk brought a case against Emery County to get copies of the minutes from a closed-door meeting Emery County Commissioners held in late March with representatives of the lieutenant governor, who is the state’s top election official, and representatives of Diebold, the company that sold Utah its new voting machines. After the off-the-books session, Funk was called in by commissioners and—he claims—bullied into resigning. Funk quickly thought better and informed commissioners he would be staying to finish out his term, but locks were changed and the Emery County Republican Party was asked to select a replacement.
Funk feels certain if the minutes and recordings of the hush-hush meetings were unsealed, they would show the maker of voting equipment conniving with state politicians to get rid of an elected county official who raised uncomfortable questions—confirming some of the worst fears of conspiracy theorists.
Fueling the conspiracy fire, the Utah State Records Committee denied Funk’s request, ruling the meetings for which Funk wanted records were properly closed to the public.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 