I want to congratulate the voters of Salt Lake City who turned out in record numbers - more than 45 percent of registered voters - for Salt Lake City's municipal election. In 21 voting precincts more than 60 percent of voters exercised their rights as citizens.
I also want to thank the election officials and voting precinct judges who put in long, hard hours to make our democratic system work for all of us. For the record, no officials or judges did anything that could be considered inappropriate. No judge took ballots home to count, as reported in some areas. One judge, whose ballot box was secured and properly transported, stopped on the way to the election clerk's office to use a home phone to alert officials of the delay. Contributing factors in that delay were higher-than-usual turnout of voters and a very conscientious reconciling of ballots.Though the judge was concerned about one missing ballot, all ballots in that precinct were accounted for in the official canvas.
To all election judges, thank you for your help. To all Salt Lake voters, you can be proud of your community and your participation.
Kendrick D. Cowley
Salt Lake City recorder