SALT LAKE CITY — Though voter turnout is always lower during municipal years, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen says she’s seeing a lower voter turnout than she had hoped for heading into Election Day.
“It’s very disappointing,” Swensen told the Deseret News on Monday. “I know some people wait until the last minute, but boy they’re really waiting until the last minute.”
As of Monday morning, Swensen reported a 23% voter turnout or 105,971 ballots back out of the roughly 457,000 mailed to registered voters in Salt Lake County. She had hoped for a 40% turnout for this year’s general election, but was skeptical of reaching that threshold.
“Not at the rate we’re going,” she said, noting that several cities in Salt Lake County have several uncontested council races that might be causing lower voter interest in this year’s election.
“I don’t think we’re going to hit 40% countywide,” she said.
About 12,000 Salt Lake County ballots were mailed back to the clerk’s office Monday, but “that’s not great considering” that’s all that was returned over the weekend, Swensen said.
The most high-profile race in Salt Lake County this year is the Salt Lake City mayor’s race. Turnout is highest in that city, though it’s not as high as candidates would like it to be.
As of Monday, just under 33% of Salt Lake City registered voters had returned their ballots, according to Swensen. In order to reach 50% turnout, Swensen said she’ll need back about another 16,000 ballots, which she said she thinks is possible, especially if undecided voters are waiting until the last day to cast their votes.
Recent polls indicate Erin Mendenhall could have a “commanding lead” heading into Tuesday’s election. Pollster Blake Moore, a principal at Dan Jones & Associates, has said the “most important factor” for the race will be voter turnout and whether Sen. Luz Escamilla will be able to rally supporters to submit ballots or show up at the polls.
In the primary, Mendenhall surfaced as the top vote-getter on election night, but momentum gained for Escamilla as more last-minute ballots were counted days later, securing her spot on the general election ballot. If that pattern continues, Escamilla’s may be relying heavily on final-day voters. Polls have also indicated a significant block of voters have been undecided heading into Election Day.
Escamilla’s campaign manager, Rudy Miera, predicts such a close race Tuesday night that Salt Lake City voters still won’t know who their next mayor will be when results post at about 8 p.m.
“We’re going to see a repeat of what happened in the primary, where we can’t bank on what happens on election night,” he said. “We’re going to have to wait until every ballot is counted.”
Mendenhall said in a statement Monday it’s “disappointing” to see low voter turnout, “but there is still time for people to drop off their ballots.”
“The more people who are part of the process, the better the results will be for our community,” she said.
Monday was the last day to postmark a by-mail ballot, but voters can still drop off their ballots at designated drop boxes or vote in person at vote centers open until 8 p.m. Tuesday.
In Salt Lake County, three other cities are holding mayoral races: West Jordan, Brighton and Millcreek. Three Salt Lake City Council seats are also up for reelection.
In Utah County, no mayoral seats are up for election — and that could be why turnout is still fairly low there.
Utah County Clerk/Auditor Amelia Powers said she’s expecting about 55,000 ballots by the end of the night Monday, which would bring about 20% turnout to Utah County. She said she’s disappointed in the low turnout — but noted vote-by-mail is still fairly new to Utah County.
Powers urged voters to either drop off their ballots or turn up to vote in person.
“Hopefully even in these non-general election years they’ll consider we’ve made voting as easy as possible for them and hopefully they’ll take the time,” she said.
In Davis County, elections manager Brian McKenzie said turnout has reached about 28%, with about 44,500 ballots returned. He expects an up to 35% turnout, which is fairly close to what he projected for the municipal year, but still slightly lower than he had hoped.
“We always would like to have more people involved,” he said. “That’s what makes this country great is when people get involved.”
There’s still time to vote. For information about vote centers or drop box locations, visit your county clerk’s website or vote.utah.gov.