Susan Barretta, a poll watcher for the Salt Lake County GOP, observes election workers at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City as votes are cast in Utah’s primary election on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
Tomorrow is Election Day. If you haven’t voted yet, you’re running out of time.
So far, the vast majority of Utahns who have already voted have been utilizing the statewide vote-by-mail system, which automatically sends registered voters a ballot in their mailbox. However, if you haven’t yet returned your ballot, be aware that an important deadline is today.
Utah law requires ballots sent through the mail to be postmarked no later than the day before Election Day, Monday. That means you can still technically mail your ballot, but to avoid the risk of possible mail delays, state deputy elections director Shelly Jackson urged voters to take extra care to ensure their votes get counted.
If mailing their ballot Monday, “it would be my advice to walk it into a post office and make sure you get a date stamp on it,” Shelly said. Alternatively, she said it would be “prudent” to drop the ballot off at a designated voter drop box to guarantee it gets counted in time.
Earlier this year during the primary, the state’s day-before postmark deadline drew controversy when Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Colby Jenkins narrowly lost to Rep. Celeste Maloy. His campaign contested the election with the Utah Supreme Court, arguing county clerks should count 1,171 by-mail ballots that were disqualified because they missed the state’s postmark deadline. The Utah Supreme Court, however, denied his case.
Utahns can find nearby drop box locations by inputting their address on the state’s election website. The page will also include instructions on the closest polling locations that will be open on Election Day, for voters who prefer to vote in person.
Ballot drop box locations are also all listed on local county clerks’ websites. Salt Lake County has 28 drop boxes. Utah County also has 28. Davis County has 16. Weber County has 21. Tooele County has 10.
For voters who prefer to vote in person, in most counties early voting ended Friday, Jackson said. However, Utah County is offering early voting up until 5 p.m. Monday at the Utah County Health and Justice Building, located at 151 S. University Avenue in Provo.
How to track your ballot
On Utah’s election website, voters can sign up for an online ballot tracking tool, which can send you updates of the status of your by-mail ballot and alert you if it runs into an issue. It can also notify you when clerks receive and process your ballot.
Jackson said it’s not too late to sign up for ballot tracking, even after Election Day.
“If there are challenges to your signature, you have almost until the day of the canvass (Nov. 25) when counties finalize results” to correct any issues with your signature, Jackson said. So she said it’s still useful to sign up for the ballot tracking tool after polls close to check the status of your ballot and contact your county clerk’s office as workers spend the next few weeks finalizing results.
If workers do have any issues with a ballot, Jackson said, the affected voters should also be receiving an affidavit in the mail from the county clerk and likely a phone call and an email to make sure their signatures can be verified.
“Definitely, it’s not too late, even after the elections are over to sign that affidavit and return that to the clerk,” Jackson said.
How are election officials preparing for potential issues?
Because voters tend to participate in presidential elections at higher rates than other types of elections, it’s possible some polling locations could see long lines, though Jackson said Utah’s statewide by-mail election has typically helped alleviate that potential.
However, “we’re always concerned there could be lines,” Jackson said. “We will be checking in periodically with (clerks) … throughout the day to make sure there aren’t lines. We can deploy more machines if they need to.”
In Utah County — where the clerk has discouraged voting by mail in favor of using ballot drop boxes or in-person voting this year while expressing distrust in the U.S. Postal Service — voter turnout has been lagging behind other counties across the state.
Asked if Utah County could face long lines because of the clerk’s preferences, Jackson said it’s possible, “but I’m hopeful that it won’t.” She noted Utah County voters will have 14 different in-person voting centers available that will be open on Election Day. Their locations are also listed on Utah County’s website.
Jackson also pointed out that voters who want to vote in person can speed up that process by bringing their by-mail ballot with them and handing it directly to a poll worker.
Whatever way Utahns want to vote, Jackson urged them that now’s the time.
“Please,” she said, “just get out there and vote if you haven’t already.”
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