SALT LAKE CITY — Even with a multimillion-dollar initiative and mayoral shifts on some ballots, it's unclear whether voter participation will be higher or lower than usual on Election Day in Salt Lake County.
In 2009, the county saw a 19.5 percent voter turnout in the general election.
As of Friday, 13 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots through early and mail-in voting, according to Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen.
The use of mail-in ballots in West Jordan and Cottonwood Heights may drive more voters, Swensen said, but the uncontested mayoral race in Murray — traditionally a high-turnout area — and number of local candidates with whom voters are not familiar may set that number back.
Taylorsville's early voting locations received the most traffic, Swensen said, with 405 votes cast by the time polls closed.
Voting will run from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at polling locations throughout the state.
A half-billion-dollar ballot measure affecting Riverton, West Jordan, South Jordan, Bluffdale and Herriman residents will be sure to ramp up voter participation, Swensen said.
"I'm sure the Jordan (School District) bond will have an impact as far as turnout. Its seems to be a pretty good issue for people to care about," she said.
The bond asks for $495 million to build new schools, buy land for those schools, and remodel and update buildings to accommodate a projected influx of students moving into the area. If passed, homeowners within the district will pay up to $300 more per year in property taxes for 15 years.
Candidates
Either Troy K. Walker or Phillip Shell will replace three-term Draper Mayor Darrell Smith. Four candidates will compete for two seats on the Draper City Council — William Rappleye, Jeffrey Stenquist, Carolyn Hunsaker and Michele Weeks.
In West Jordan, candidates Kim Rolfe and Ben Southworth will battle for the mayor's seat. Four candidates — Jeff Haaga, Dixie Memmott, Gregory Simonsen and Chad Nichols — are running for two open City Council seats.
In West Valley, Karen Lang and Ron Bigelow will face off for the open mayoral seat. Candidates Lars Nordfelt and Phil Conder are contending for the council at-large. In District 2, Jeff White and Steve Buhler are contending for the seat and Mary Jayne Newton-Davis and Steve Vincent are battling for District 4.
Candidates Carmen Freeman and Michelle Baguley are competing to become Herriman's next mayor.
Midvale residents will choose between longtime Mayor JoAnn Seghini and David Fair as their next mayor. Wayne Sharp, Tim Heumann, Stephen Brown and Colleen Costello are in the race for the city's two City Council seats.
South Jordan's mayoral candidates are Scott Osborne, who was appointed to the office in 2012, and Dave Alvord. City Council candidates Christopher Rogers and Larry Short are vying for the District 5 seat, and Don Shelton and Brian C. Butters are running in District 3.
In South Salt Lake, Derk Pehrson is challenging incumbent Mayor Cherie Wood.
Salt Lake City has four City Council seats open. District 3 sees incumbent Stan Penfold facing Sherman Clow; in District 1, James Rogers and Kevin Parke are contending for the open seat; Erin Mendenhall and Bill Davis are running in District 5; and the candidates for District 7 are Lisa Ramsey Adams and Kevin Paulson. Longtime City Council members Carlton Christensen, Jill Remington Love and Søren Simonsen did not seek re-election.
Jerry Rechtenbach, Taylorsville's newly appointed mayor, will enter an Election Day showdown with Larry Johnson. Either Ken Acker or Daniel Jon Armstrong will fill the open City Council seat in District 5. In District 4, write-in candidate Wendi Wengel is challenging Dama Barbour.
Taylorsville voters will also decide whether the city should be annexed into the Unified Fire service area.
Voters in Salt Lake County who have questions can call the county clerk at 385-GOT-VOTE.
Utah County
Orem has Chris Nichols and Richard Brunst running for mayor, and Mary Street, Brent Sumner, David M. Spencer, Tom MacDonald, Sharon Price Anderson and Wayne Burr contending for three open City Council seats.
The city also has two ballot initiatives: a proposal to renew the 0.1 percent cultural, arts and recreation enrichment tax, and a proposed annual tax increase.
In Provo, Jason Christensen is challenging incumbent Mayor John Curtis. David Sewell, Ryan Frandsen, Stephen Hales and Sterling Beck are candidates for two City Council seats.
Lehi Mayor Bert Wilson faces challenger Jim Hewitson in the general election. In the City Council races, Stephen Holbrook, Paul Hancock, Kaye Collins and Chris Condie are the candidates vying for two seats.
A ballot measure in Highland asks residents to vote on a $15.42 per month utility fee to pay for road maintenance.
Residents of American Fork will either approve or shut down a request for a $20 million bond that would go toward road construction and upgrades.
In Cedar Hills, voters will decide whether residents' approval is necessary for any city building expenses exceeding $400,000.
Voters in Lindon will decide whether to adopt a 0.1 percent tax for parks, arts, recreation and culture.
Two ballot initiatives are available for voters in Saratoga Springs. Proposition 6 is for or against a mandate to limit multi-unit housing and require that 73 percent of homes in the city be single-family, detached homes. In Proposition 3, voters will decide to repeal or stay with a City Council decision to rezone a plat within the city.
Roy Mayor Joe Ritchie is contending against Willard Cragun.
In Ogden, either Marcia L. White or Stephen D. Thompson will fill an open seat on the City Council.
Bob J. Stevenson and Jory Francis are running for the open mayoral seat in Layton. City Council candidates Thomas Day, Barry Flitton, Mike Bouwhuis and Joy Petro are vying for two open seats.
In Syracuse, either Terry Palmer or Douglas Peterson will replace Mayor Jamie Nagle. City Council candidates are Michael Gailey, Brian Duncan, Allen Lowry, Gary Pratt and Randy Miller, who entered the race as a write-in candidate.
Beverly K. MacFarlane and Ryan Furniss are seeking the office of mayor of Sunset.
A ballot measure in Kaysville asks residents to vote for or against a requirement to make sure all revenue generated by the Kaysville Power Department and Power Fund will be used within the power department only. Any excess funds not allocated to the power department or emergency fund will be returned to customers annually.
Other ballot initiatives
- Hyde Park residents will vote whether to lift a ban prohibiting the sale of alcohol within city limits.
- Residents within the Cache County School District will vote on a bond that would allocate $129 million toward school construction and remodeling.
- Voters in Washington County will approve or deny a $185 million bond to be applied to school construction and remodeling.
- Those in Duchesne County will join those requesting funds for construction and remodeling in schools, with a ballot initiative requesting a $29 million bond.
- Residents of East Carbon and Sunnyside will decide whether to consolidate into one city.
Voters in the Logan City School District will be able to vote on a $55 million bond that would be used to reconstruct Logan High School and an elementary school built 52 years ago, as well as make upgrades to an additional elementary school. Registered voters will also vote on a property tax increase, or levy, that would raise an additional $1.3 million annually to be used in the District’s schools. This would go toward decreasing class sizes between 4th and 12th grades, hiring a band teacher full time at Logan High School and fund the elementary orchestra program.
If both pass, individual homeowners within the District would see a $12 average monthly tax increase for a home valued at $170,000.
Email: wevans@deseretnews.com
Twitter: whitevs7