SALT LAKE CITY — Now that the third and final presidential debate has come and gone, and less than three weeks remain until Election Day, Utah elections officials are urging residents to cast their votes sooner rather than later.

"The more that come in ahead of time, the more we'll be able to count on election night," Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said.

And it's not just the presidential race that should be propelling voters to fill out their ballots, Swensen added.

There are races for U.S. Senate, four U.S. House districts, governor and 15 state Senate seats. All 75 Utah House seats are up for election, as are eight State School Board positions and numerous county offices.

With 21 of Utah's 29 counties holding vote-by-mail elections, tens of thousands of ballots have already begun flooding clerks' offices. Statewide tallies won't be available until next week, but Swensen said Salt Lake County voters had already returned more than 68,000 ballots as of Friday.

Because it's the first presidential election in which most Utah voters will be casting ballots by mail, elections officials are urging voters to pay attention to deadlines, instructions and rules to make sure their votes count.

For instance, Swensen and Salt Lake County Elections Director Rozan Mitchell already have likely hundreds of presidential votes that will be marked as ineligible.

That's because those voters — relucant to choose party nominees Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, or any of the other candidates listed on the ballots — have written in names of people who aren't registered as official write-in candidates.

"We're seeing a lot of votes for Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney, Bernie Sanders, and even a few for Mickey Mouse," Mitchell said.

Swensen said she expects some voters are knowingly giving up their presidential vote by writing in nonsense names, but others may not know that the name they write must be a declared write-in candidate. A list of those candidates is available at vote.utah.gov.

"I think some people do misunderstand, and that's disappointing," she said. "I don't want them to cast a vote that won't count and not realize it won't count."

Swensen urged voters to make sure they understand all the rules and requirements when preparing to cast their votes, whether it's choosing a write-in candidate, registering to vote, or meeting by-mail deadlines.

Registration

The deadline to register to vote by mail was Oct. 11. Now, voters must either register online at vote.utah.gov or in person at their county clerk's office by Nov. 1.

Voters also can register at the polls on Election Day in eight counties — Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Cache, Kane, Millard, San Juan and Sanpete.

Voters who aren't sure whether they're registered can contact their county clerk or call the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office at 800-995-VOTE.

Those who have a new address or name must submit a new registration form.

By-mail voting

Twenty-one counties are holding by-mail elections — Beaver, Cache, Davis, Duchesne, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Rich, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Uintah, Wasatch, Wayne and Weber.

Because ballots began hitting mailboxes last week, most voters should already have theirs in hand. If not, they should contact their county clerk.

Voters who live in counties not holding by-mail elections still have the option of requesting a by-mail ballot. The last day to request one is Nov. 3, either by contacting your county clerk's office or online at voter.utah.gov.

Swensen urged by-mail voters to understand their ballots must be postmarked by the post office by Nov. 7, the day before Election Day.

There's no guarantee ballots will be postmarked if voters simply put them in their mailboxes that day, Swensen said. So to be safe, voters can either drop their ballots in designated drop boxes — which are listed on clerks' websites — or turn them in at polling centers.

Swensen also urged by-mail voters to make sure they sign the affidavit inside their ballot's envelope, otherwise their ballots will be sent back to them and won't be counted if they aren't returned by the end of canvassing on Nov. 22.

In-person voting

Voters in all counties — including vote-by-mail counties — will have the option of voting in person on Election Day.

Though there won't be as many locations as a traditional election in counties that have opted for by-mail voting, traditional polling locations will be open for business in counties holding traditional elections — Utah, Box Elder, Carbon, Daggett, Emery, Piute, Tooele and Washington.

For those wanting to vote in person, 11 counties are offering early voting: Box Elder, Carbon, Daggett, Emery, Iron, Kane, Piute, Salt Lake, Tooele, Utah and Washington. Visit vote.utah.gov to find early voting locations and times.

Voters can cast ballots at their county clerk's office or enter their address at vote.utah.gov to find out where their nearest polling location will be.

For more information about races, voters can visit the state website to review a voter information pamphlet, which includes detailed candidate profiles.

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