The Salt Lake Tribune is following and reporting on statewide elections across Utah. The latest and breaking Nov. 2 Election Day news can be found on this blog throughout Election Day.
Voter turnout on the Wasatch Front expected to be very low
1:15 p.m.
In the ranking of things that people get super excited about, municipal elections appear to be pretty far down the list.
Heading into Tuesday’s election, just under 20% of registered voters in Utah County had cast ballots early, according to Josh Daniels, the county clerk. Daniels said he anticipated another 15% would be casting ballots during the course of the day, bringing the total to around 35%.
That’s a small turnout, considering cities and towns like Alpine, American Fork, Eagle Mountain, Orem, Provo and Spanish Fork will all be electing their next mayors, and there are dozens of city council candidates up for election as well.
It’s also not unexpected.
There was no way turnout would come close to the 89.2% of the county’s 326,485 registered voters that cast ballots in the 2020 general election.
Still, if 35% of that same number of registered voters come out this year, that will translate into a little over 114,000 votes cast, a record number of voters to cast ballots in off-year municipal races in growing Utah County.
In 2019, turnout was 33.8% in the county, or 89,292 votes cast. In 2017, turnout was a robust 39.7%, or 92,643 votes. And in 2015, the number of votes was right around 66,500.
Meantime, in Salt Lake County, turnout is projected to come in at around 30% to 35% — right around the 34% turnout from the 2019 municipal elections, but again well below the 90% turnout from 2020.
As of Thursday, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said that about 15% of voters had already cast ballots, a figure she characterized as “disappointing.”
— Robert Gehrke
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/3nQVUex
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