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SALT LAKE CITY — Early voter turnout ahead of next week's general election is lower than expected and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson encouraged all Utah voters Friday to make their voices heard.
Although it's a midterm election, which typically sees lower turnout, Henderson emphasized local elections — including those for the Utah Legislature and county leadership positions — "make a direct impact on people's lives."
"These are really important things that people should be paying attention to and should understand that their voice matters, and they should want to have a say in this," she said.
As of 7 a.m. on Friday, 22.6% of active registered voters have returned their ballots, according to Henderson, up from around 21% on Thursday afternoon. Iron and Carbon counties saw significant improvement in turnout, after they added times for early voting due to ballot delays.
Iron County's turnout improved from 1% to 10.1% in just two days, according to Henderson, and Carbon County increased from 4.1% to 14.5%.
Mail-in ballots need to be postmarked by Monday or they won't be counted during Tuesday's election. After Monday, people will need to leave their ballots in a drop box or vote in person.
As lines at in-person voting centers could be long on Tuesday, Henderson encouraged people to vote early — and to be kind to election workers.
"I'm counting on the goodwill and the patience, and the understanding of Utahns throughout the state. As we work through an election, it's always a challenge for our election workers and poll workers to do this job, and they do this out of the goodness of their hearts and out of love for democracy and freedom," she said.
Election workers have not received any recent, specific threats that Henderson — who oversees elections in her role — has heard about, but she said there's been a "general rumbling" with a few people throughout the state with some receiving "pretty nasty communications."
Despite some of the negative messages elections offices have received, Henderson said most locations haven't necessarily increased their security measures.
"We really do leave that physical security up to individual counties and polling locations," she said, but the majority keep police officers on standby to ensure voter safety.
"We, of course, are always working on cybersecurity and making sure that our systems are intact and safe."
None of the voting machines are ever connected to the internet, Henderson noted.
Few issues have been reported as early voting rolled out this year, but Henderson announced earlier this week that ballots for some voters in Iron and Carbon counties were delayed due to errors by the contracted printer. She said those residents should cast their votes at early voting locations.
In those counties, "we're working in close coordination as the clerks expand early voting hours, open additional polling places, and prepare for a larger turnout on Election Day. Fortunately, Utah election law provides several avenues for eligible voters, including in-person early voting. I want to encourage all Utahns to vote sooner rather than later," she said in a statement on Wednesday.
In response to those who worry that elections aren't secure, Henderson told KSL.com: "Look, there are always going to be people who have questions, and that's OK. We're hoping that we can help answer those questions, that we can help inform and educate the public as to what the systems are. And we are very confident in the integrity and security of our systems, and the integrity of people who run them."
She described election volunteers as "local folks," including stay-at-home moms who work at ballot processing centers or voter centers, and retired people. Henderson said she hopes everyone treats them with "respect and good grace."
"These are your neighbors, your friends, people in your communities who come in and work because they want to be part of this democratic process, and they find it's very important and rewarding," she said.
Anyone with questions or concerns about the election process can visit their local ballot processing centers and/or sign up to watch the polls. Those who do so might even end up signing up to volunteer at the polls next year.
"All of the things that we do are done in the open, they're done in public setting," Henderson said.
For more information, including how you can vote, visit vote.utah.gov/.
