North Carolina man charged with forging signatures in Prop 4 repeal effort
by Bridger Beal-Cvetko ksl, Daniel Woodruff ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Chadwick Kluttz, 40, of North Carolina, faces criminal charges accusing him of forging signatures in the effort to repeal Utah's Proposition 4.
- He is charged with 11 counts of forgery and 11 counts of unlawfully signing a certificate of nomination signature sheet.
- Kluttz was arrested in North Carolina and later released; Utah officials working to return him to Vernal to face charges.
VERNAL — A North Carolina man has been charged with forging signatures while working on the recent effort to repeal Proposition 4 in Utah.
Chadwick Kluttz, 40, was charged in 8th District Court with 11 counts of forgery, a third-degree felony, and 11 counts of unlawfully signing a certificate of nomination signature sheet, a class A misdemeanor.
The charges filed last month allege Kluttz turned in several packets of signatures collected in Vernal and elsewhere in Uintah County for the Republican-led effort to undo the anti-gerrymandering initiative Proposition 4 between Dec. 30, 2025, and Jan. 19. Ultimately, that effort fell short of the required signatures to get on the November ballot.
"In total there were 305 signatures collected and 165 possible fraudulent signatures," according to a court affidavit filed March 26. "All of the packets were signed by Chad Kluttz out of North Carolina."
Investigators spoke with nine people whose signatures were in the packets.
"The individuals all confirmed that it was not their signature and they did not authorize anyone to sign the packet on their behalf," charging documents state. "Two of the individuals who had signed packets were dead and had died prior to the date the packet showed as being signed."
The Uintah County chief deputy attorney filed charges against Kluttz in March, and an arrest warrant was signed by a judge on April 1. Kluttz had left the state of Utah by the time the charges and warrant were filed, according to Vernal police.
Investigators announced Tuesday that Kluttz had "since been arrested in North Carolina" but was later released, per state law.
"Our office has been in communication with authorities there and is working to have him returned to Vernal to face these charges," police said in a social media post.
Kluttz declined to comment Tuesday on the charges when reached by KSL. On his social media pages, he lists himself as regional field director with the North Carolina Republican Party.
The North Carolina Republican Party had no comment on the allegations against Kluttz, but a spokesperson confirmed he "was a field director during the 2024 election cycle after which he moved on, as most election-year staff do."
In a statement Tuesday, Utah Republican Party Chairman Rob Axson said Kluttz worked for a vendor who was helping with signature gathering.
"As has always been the case, we expect complete integrity and compliance with the law," Axson said. "Anyone falling short of that should face the legal consequences and be held accountable."
Axson went on to say the state GOP has supported investigations "into the couple of examples of bad actors" involved in the Prop 4 repeal effort. "The actions of these individuals do not take away from the hundreds of paid gatherers — and well over a thousand volunteers — who worked with honesty, commitment and principle."
This is not the only case of potential signature fraud. The Utah County attorney confirmed it was investigating potential signature fraud related to the repeal of Proposition 4 in February, after some 300 signatures were flagged.
The effort to roll back Utah's anti-gerrymandering law ultimately fell short of the county signature thresholds required to qualify for the November ballot. Organizers initially cleared the statewide threshold as well as the thresholds in the necessary 26 of Utah's 29 Senate districts, but enough voters removed their signatures in two of the districts to disqualify the effort, according to an unofficial tally by Morgan and May Public Affairs.
The lieutenant governor has until Thursday to issue an official declaration.
Republicans launched the effort to repeal Proposition 4 last fall, after a Utah judge threw out the state's old congressional map she said did not comply with the anti-gerrymandering law. The judge adopted a new map in November that created a likely Democratic district in Salt Lake County.
Top Republicans in the Legislature have frequently criticized that decision as well as other rulings in the ongoing legal fight over redistricting. They are working to introduce a constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters, would allow them to alter citizen initiatives and ultimately draw districts however they want.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Related topics
Utah congressional redistrictingUtahPolice & CourtsEastern UtahPolitics
Bridger Beal-Cvetko
Bridger Beal-Cvetko is a reporter for KSL. He covers politics, Salt Lake County communities and breaking news. Bridger has worked for the Deseret News and graduated from Utah Valley University.
Daniel Woodruff
Daniel Woodruff is a reporter/anchor with deep experience covering Utah news. He is a native of Provo and a graduate of Brigham Young University. Daniel has also worked as a journalist in Indiana and Wisconsin.