While primary election day isn’t until June 28, ballots for voters who vote by mail may be sent out as early as next week.
State law requires that vote-by-mail ballots be mailed to voters no later than 21 days before the day of the election, according to Tooele County Clerk/Auditor Marilyn Gillette.
“Although we could wait until June 7, we may have the ballots ready to go to the post office by late next week,” she said.
For the June 28 primary, all voters in Stansbury Park will join the ranks of vote-by-mail voters.
Stockton, Wendover, Ibapah, Rush Valley, Lake Point and Vernon have been voting by mail for several years, according to Gillette.
Stansbury Park was added to the list of vote-by-mail precincts because of the incorporation issue that will be on this fall’s general election ballot in Stansbury Park.
“This will be an important election for Stansbury Park,” Gillette said. “It is important that everybody gets the opportunity to vote.”
The precincts in Tooele County that vote by mail have a higher percentage of voter turnout than those that don’t, she said.
Also, across the state, 20 out of 29 counties vote entirely by mail with a higher voter participation rate than when they voted in polling booths on election day, according to Gillette.
“Many voters tell me they like to vote by mail because they can take time to research the candidates and then they can take time to mark their ballot at home and drop it in their mailbox,” she said.
Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election or delivered in person to any polling location in the county on the day of the election in order to be counted, according to Gillette.
The county clerk/auditor’s office takes several steps to maintain the integrity of the election and make sure that all qualified votes are counted, she said.
When ballots are received in the clerk/auditor’s office, the bar code on the ballot is scanned. The bar code contains the voter’s registration number. The scan allows the clerk/auditor’s office to keep track of whose ballots have been received and when they were received.
The bar code does not reveal how the person voted; that information remains confidential.
The tab on the back of the ballot is opened to reveal the voter’s signature. The signature is verified by comparing it with copies of the signature on file in the clerk/auditor’s office.
If the signature can’t be verified, the voter is contacted by the clerk/auditor’s office.
After the signature is verified, the signature is removed from the ballot envelope. The envelopes are stored in the vault in the clerk/auditor’s office.
When it comes time to count the votes, three election workers retrieve the envelopes and remove the ballots. The ballots are checked for any problems that may interfere with scanning, things like spilled drinks, or color crayon drawings on the ballot.
If there are problems with the ballot the three election workers reproduce the ballot manually and staple the original ballot to the new ballot.
Workers in the clerk/auditor’s office use an optical scanner to count the ballots. Some ballots may be counted prior to the night of the election, but the count is kept on the election system’s server and remains unknown until after polls close on election night.
Even if voters live in a vote-by-mail precinct they are not required to vote by mail.
A voter can turn in their blank vote-by-mail ballot at any polling location and vote in person, according to Gillette.
If they have lost their vote-by-mail ballot, voters can cast a provisional ballot at any polling location. The provisional ballot will be held until after ballots are counted to verify the voter did not mail in a ballot.
If the clerk/auditor’s office receives two verified ballots from the same voter, the ballot that was received first will be counted, Gillette said.
Vote-by-mail voters can check the state website, www.vote.utah.gov, to see when their ballot was mailed to them, when it was received back to the county, and whether or not it was counted.
With the June 28 election being a primary election, political party rules determine what ballot voters will receive. Only voters who are registered as Republicans will receive a ballot for the Republican party primary.
However, vote-by-mail voters who are unaffiliated with any party may receive a Republican party primary ballot if they return a request for a Republican party ballot to the county clerk and affiliate with the Republican party.
Voters who are registered as Democrats will receive a Democratic party primary ballot.
While Democrats allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their primary, in order to receive a Democratic Party primary ballot in the mail, unaffiliated voters must return a request for a Democratic ballot to the county clerk/auditor’s office.
Vote-by-mail voters have already been sent instructions on requesting party ballots, according to Gillette.
Republicans in Tooele County will vote in the primary for a candidate for governor and for Tooele County commissioner. Tooele County Democrats will vote for a U.S. Senate candidate.
The only unaffiliated voters, other than those who request a party ballot that will receive a ballot for the primary election, will be unaffiliated voters in Tooele County School Board District 3.
School board district 3 voters will eliminate one of three candidates for school board leaving two names for the general election ballot.