Early voting numbers show ups and downs across Utah

GUNNISON, Utah – Early voting numbers for Utah released by Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson showed a statewide return of 46.2 percent.

As of Monday, the highest returns were in Grand County, at 65.7 percent, while the lowest were in Sanpete County, the rural area home to Gov. Spencer Cox, at just 35.1 percent.

While these low numbers are a little startling, officials said they don't tell the true story.

“A ballot in the system, for example tracking your ballot, is not registered until you scan that barcode and then verify the signature,” said Linda Christiansen, county clerk in Sanpete County.

Christiansen says the county's initial numbers will increase significantly by Monday evening.

“We only have six of us who are full-time signature verifiers, and the problem is four of my staff are certified, but we've been voting in person non-stop all last week,” she explained.

On Monday, the county's selectmen were busy with the task at hand.

“I converted our commission room into an election processing room,” Christensen said. “That’s why we keep all our ballots in locked cages. My tabulation room is behind this locked glass door. So people can watch, they can watch but not be in our room while we tabulate.”

There's still time to submit and count ballots, but Christensen advises voters to run to the post office and make sure employees stamp the ballot, which must be postmarked by Monday.

“Just make your vote count and go out and vote!” she added.

Christensen said voters can trust Utah's rigorous election process.

“We have glass windows around my office. We have cameras in all processing areas. We are as transparent as we can be,” she promised.

While Christensen acknowledged Monday's numbers were disappointing, he said Sanpete County has a history of turning out big votes.

“I looked at the 2020 numbers and Sanpete was at 92 percent!” she exclaimed.

The county clerk expects they will be closer to their goal by Tuesday.

“I had hardly any poll workers coming out of our big boxes, which were Gunnison, Mount Pleasant, Ephraim and Manti. We are in the process of counting them,” she said. “We’ll learn more about how many were dropped off over the weekend and see if we might get to that 60 percent at the end of the day today.”