In a county that had procedural issues last year, the Cache County election team is keeping operations on track. Election night is running smoothly, with a calm, focused atmosphere at the ballot center. County Clerk Bryson Behm said a surge in in-person voters — many who appear to be students — has led to some minor delays, especially with printers. Despite the high turnout, everything is proceeding steadily, with around eight workers focused on processing ballots and others quietly watching live updates and discussing the election.
Reporter Clarissa Casper talked to Behm about the day.
Bryson Behm: So far, it's been going really well. We just have been, you know, really slammed. There's a lot of people showing up to vote in person. Most of it are those provisional voters, those first registrations. A lot of them are students. And so that's kind of what's keeping up the line. But no, everything's going well.
We have, you know, all of our focus right now is in person voting. And you know, polls close at 8, and we're ready to keep on rolling. But you know, things are just, things are going good.
I think the biggest hiccup is just, you know, so many people showed up to vote in person. But that's something you know, you can't really predict, right? So that's kind of the biggest one, just kind of getting ready for all those people, because more people comes, you know, more printers and more ballots and more toner and that. But those only big hiccups for us.
Clarissa Casper: I think that's been a thing everywhere. Yeah, all my coworkers are planning on working until, like, 3 a.m. in Salt Lake.
Bryson Behm: Yeah, that's kind of where -- hopefully not 3 a.m. for us, because we're a little bit smaller, but holy mackerel. Happy presidential election. Yep.
Clarissa Casper: Any stress? How are you feeling?
Bryson Behm: I think I'm more stressed? Just since I'm on the ballot myself. But then I also can't be like, more hands-on than I want to be, like, help running machines, help with ballots. So that's more stress. It's kind of -- I'm watching everybody from afar, and I want to get in there and help, but I can't. So it's very emotional sometimes because, like, I see them struggling, and I'm like, I really, I really need -- I really want to help them.
