Seventy Utah cities are running their 2015 municipal elections by-mail, meaning registered voters have each received a ballot and have the opportunity to fill it out and mail it to their city office by Nov. 3.
According to Justin Lee, the Deputy Director of Elections for the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, this process is not new. Originally an option for people leaving town on Election Day, by-mail voting intends to simplify the process for voters and administrators, giving voters the opportunity to spend more time with their ballots, ultimately aiming for an increase in voter turnout.
“In 2012 the legislature passed a law that said any county or city could choose to run their entire election by mail, instead of it being just one option that would be the primary way that voters would vote," Lee said. "So in 2012 we saw one county that voted by-mail and it just kept going from there.”
Duchesne County was the first in the state to try by-mail voting in 2012. This year though, several cities in Salt Lake County are among the 70 cities where residents will be voting by mail in the municipal election.
“Several counties and cities started seeing 30, 40 or 50 percent of their population who wanted to vote by mail anyway," Lee said. "So instead of running two different elections, one as a polling place election and one as a by mail election, they just picked the one process, just a vote by mail process. It simplifies it for the administrators.”
Voters have the option to bring their ballot to a polling location on Election Day if they wish, but if they mail their ballot in, it must be postmarked by Monday, Nov. 2.
Lee said each county (or city) is still required to have a polling location or an ADA accessible machine in order to accommodate all voters.
“I think that for the next little while there will at least be some component of an election day voting center but I think we’ll see fewer and fewer voters using them,” Lee said.
Voters have the option to bring their ballot to a polling location on Election Day if they wish, but if they mail their ballot in, it must be postmarked by Monday, Nov. 2.
Residents who vote by-mail will not receive an 'I voted' sticker this year, but Lee said the state is hoping to find a cost effective way to include them in the ballots in the future.
