LISTEN: Are Utah voters confident in the mail-in voting system?
Oct 30, 2024, 7:00 AM | Updated: 3:17 pm
FILE - A voter holds a mail-in ballot in Provo Nov. 4, 2022. Mail-in ballots are already being sent to voters across Salt Lake County ahead of the June 23rd primary election. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A recent study conducted by Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics said 75% of Utah voters trust the mail-in voting system.
A breakdown of the numbers found that 35% of Utahns are very confident in the process. 39% are somewhat confident, 16% are not very confident, and 9% aren’t confident at all in the state’s process.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 29, more than 400,000 Utah voters have already returned their ballots.
Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson joined KSL at Night, saying that in her experience, the numbers make sense.
Related: Early voting in Utah off to strong start
Henderson is technically the Chief Election Officer of the state. She doesn’t run elections — that is a county clerk’s duty — but she oversees them.
She says Utahns’ actions show that they appreciate the mail-in voting process.
“We want people to vote however they feel most comfortable,” she said. “Some people love the option of going in person and going to a booth and getting an “I Voted” sticker. But most people choose to sit at their kitchen counter and look up their candidates and the judges… Then put their ballot either in the mail or in the dropbox.”
She says the “bluster and noise” surrounding mail-in voting doesn’t seem to affect how Utahns feel about it.
Related: Here’s how Salt Lake County ballot boxes are protected from fire
“One of the things that I love about vote by mail is this idea of a civic engagement around the kitchen table with your family members,” she said. “I’ve heard from so many people who have had their kids there, and they’re talking through this with their kids, and their kids are watching them participate in the most fundamental democratic process that we as good citizens need to engage in.”
Henderson said that those with worries about voting by mail can track their vote at trackmyballot.utah.gov.
“If people are concerned or just want to make sure that when they put their ballot in a dropbox or … in the mail, that it actually does get received and counted by their county clerk, this is how you do it. You sign up and you get those text notifications. We’ve had over 37,000 people this month alone sign up for that,” she said.
