What’s next now that Utah’s primary election is over with?
Aug 14, 2024, 3:00 PM
A voter submits their ballot during primary election voting in Provo on June 25. (Isaac Hale/Deseret News)
(Isaac Hale/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The last of primary election races in Utah have come to an end nearly two months since voters cast their ballots.
Congresswoman Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, was declared the winner of Utah’s 2nd Congressional District primary, following a recount and the dismissal of a case before the Utah Supreme Court.
Her opponent, Colby Jenkins, asked the court to allow nearly 1,200 disqualified mail-in ballots from southern Utah to be counted after they weren’t postmarked by the June 24 deadline.
In a filing, Jenkins claimed the ballots were mailed out before the deadline, but were postmarked too late because they were sent to the nearest United States Postal Service processing facility in Las Vegas.
The court denied Jenkins the relief he sought.
Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, met the same outcome from Utah’s highest court Tuesday night when it dismissed his request to make him the GOP nominee for governor on the November ballot.
Lyman said he should be the nominee because he won the GOP convention with more than 60% of delegates votes. However, he lost to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox in the primary election.
The court denied his request, which means Cox will be the Republican nominee.
Lyman has since told KSL NewsRadio he plans to run as a write-in candidate
What happens next?
Utah’s Deputy Director of Elections, Shelly Jackson, told KSL NewsRadio the office now has its eyes set on the next deadline, which is Sept. 3.
That is the day the lieutenant governor will certify all the names of the candidates that will appear on the November ballot, as well as any open space for write-in candidates who have submitted their names to the office.
Jackson said those write-in candidates, including Lyman, have until 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 to do that.
Races with a write-in candidate declared will have an open space where voters can write in their names.
Jackson said write-ins can’t run under their party’s label. Other than that, the rules for them are very similar to those the party nominees play by.
“There aren’t too many restrictions on [write-in candidates], they campaign just like other candidates,” Jackson said. “The only real difference is you won’t see their name printed on the ballot.”
Jackson said county clerks will likely start printing mail-in ballots for registered voters on Sept. 4.
County clerks can legally start mailing those ballots to Utahns 21 days before Election Day.
Jackson said registered Utah voters should start seeing those ballots in the mail around Oct. 15.
