SALT LAKE CITY — With ballots for municipal primary elections set to hit mailboxes next week, government leaders in Salt Lake County are expecting historically high voter participation.

That's because 14 out of county's 16 cities have opted in for vote-by-mail as a new standard for municipal elections — the highest number of cities yet, said Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen.

"I'm hoping the public will really embrace this and enjoy it," Swensen said. "Even the returned postage is paid. You can't make it more convenient than that."

Although any voter can request mail-in ballots, this will be the first time 12 of the 14 cities will be distributing vote-by-mail ballots citywide.

City leaders opted in this year after seeing impressive jumps in voter turnout from cities that distributed mail-in ballots during the last municipal election, Swensen said.

In 2013, Cottonwood Heights and West Jordan were the only cities that mailed out their ballots. Both saw significant increases in voter turnout: Cottonwood Heights' percentage nearly tripled from less than 14 percent in 2009 to more than 40 percent in 2013, and West Jordan more than doubled its participation from roughly 16 percent in 2009 to almost 35 percent in 2013.

"It worked very well," said Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvin Cullimore. "I'm in favor of whatever it takes to get more people to vote."

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The county has eliminated all of its polling places, but the move has actually increased voter turnout. Statewide, the numbers for early voter returns stands at about 20 to 30 percent. But in Duchesne County, the number is significantly higher. Officials say it's because of their decision to switch entirely to a mail-in ballot.

Except for Taylorsville and West Valley City, all Salt Lake County cities this year will be mailing out their ballots this year rather than holding regular neighborhood polling centers, although election staff will still host ballot boxes in several locations throughout the county.

Residents of six cities holding primary elections Aug. 11 — Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, South Jordan, Midvale, Holladay and Herriman — can expect to find ballots in their mailboxes next week.

Ballots for the Nov. 3 general election will be mailed Oct. 5.

"All evidence indicates that voting by mail leads to higher participation in our election process … and the hope is (voters) will embrace this convenient, cost-free and confidential system," said Salt Lake City Recorder Cindi Mansell.

Salt Lake City Councilman Charlie Luke, who is running for re-election this year, said he and other city leaders are "excited and very optimistic" that Salt Lake City will have higher voter participation during this year's election.

"Having more participation in an election like this is really critical," Luke said, referring to the fact that Salt Lake City's general election ballot will likely include numerous important issues for voters to consider, including a bond for parks and recreation.

Swensen also said widespread mail-in ballots will be especially beneficial during this year's general election, since county voters — including township and unincorporated residents — could be asked to consider a countywide sales tax increase for transportation needs, as well as a community preservation plan.

Swensen believes the mail-in option will provide voters more opportunities to make better-informed decisions.

"They're not going to have to decide at the spur of the moment at the voting booth," she said. "They'll have plenty of time to study those issues and make an educated choice."

Additionally, Swensen said the vote-by-mail option will not only extend the lives of aging voting equipment, it will also save taxpayer dollars, amounting to more than $63,000 this year across all of the participating cities.

However, election officials will not be conducting early voting in cities that chose vote-by-mail.

Swensen said there will be an in-office absentee option at the Salt Lake County Government Complex starting Monday, but early voting will only be conducted for Taylorsville and West Valley City residents from July 28 to Aug. 7 for the primary election and from Oct. 20 to Oct. 30 for the general election.

Taylorsville Mayor Larry Johnson vetoed the City Council's 3-2 vote to implement vote-by-mail this year, citing a preference for traditional voting and a desire not to restrict access to ballot boxes.

West Valley City Mayor Ron Bigelow said he and other city leaders decided against vote-by-mail this year because Salt Lake County officials could not say whether the option will be offered next year, and they wanted to avoid confusing voters.

"We expect at some point in the future that all ballots will be done by mail, but switching back and forth does not seem wise," Bigelow said. "We thought, 'Let's just wait.' We've waited this long, and so if we wait another election it's not going to change a whole lot."

Swensen said the decision whether or not next year's election will be conducted by mail will be up to the Salt Lake County Council.

For more information about this year's municipal elections and voting options, visit the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office's website at slco.org.

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