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SALT LAKE CITY — Election Day 2012 could be one for the history books. Record voter turnout is expected in Utah today and elsewhere.
”We've already had an excellent turnout,” Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swenson said Tuesday morning. ”In the last presidential election we saw about a 71 percent turnout; 76 percent in the one prior. In terms of the number of people voting, this will be a record and it could possibly be a record percentage-wise as well.”
When you look at the lines outside many polling places, it's easy to believe that 975,000 Utahns are expected to vote this year. It's a turnout that would break a two-decades old record. But not all of those votes were cast today.
"A lot of people, over 380,000 voted early, so that's great," said Utah Director of Elections, Mark Thomas. "That would be the highest we've had since early voting began, which was in 2006."
Thomas estimates that about 40 percent of the state's registered voters cast their ballots early. That not only takes them out of line on Election Day, but also helps keep election costs down.
"If we were to try to accommodate all of the voters voting on one day, we would have to spend millions, maybe even tens of millions of dollars more on the voting equipment that we have," Thomas said.
As for those extra long lines in Utah County, Thomas said they were hardly a surprise.
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With nearly 445,000 registered voters on the active rolls, and another 100,000 listed as registered but inactive, the number of Salt Lake County residents who cast a ballot in today's presidential election could climb to almost 500,000 — the most ever for any election year.
Swenson said there are a number of people listed as inactive — who have not voted in four years — but they are still registered and eligible to vote.
”They may just like to vote in presidential elections, so they may show up and vote today,” she said.
Turnout has been brisk at polling locations countywide, she said. At one location in Sandy, there was a constant stream of voters casting their ballots at Granite Elementary School, said poll manager Chuck Baribeau.
Voter Ashley Chandler, of Sandy, said she was relieved to finally have been able to vote and be almost done with the long-running campaign and election process.
PROVO — There's a chance that after you voted today, you were asked if you wanted to be part of an exit poll.
It's an effort that several colleges in Utah are involved in that provides data for the winners, the losers and even future candidates.
The Utah Colleges exit poll was started 30 years ago and this is the 16th election where not only are projections made about who is going to win, but information is gathered about why people voted the way the did. Analysts have found that election day is "crunch time" while they gather the data at the polls.
As people finished voting at Sego Lily Elementary in Lehi, every third voter was asked to participate in the Utah Colleges exit poll.
"Some people are really willing to help, some people volunteer, but we can't let them and then others blow you off," said BYU student, Matthew Frederickson.
Students from BYU and UVU are polling voters not only about who they voted for, but issues that are important to them. That is the main reason why BYU freshman Austin Rasmussen is volunteering to help with the exit polls.
"Americans need to get involved in politics and vote for their leaders," said Rasmussen.
And the college students haven't had a break because of the heavy voter turnout.
"It's been really really busy all day, ever since we pulled up there's been a line out the door," said UVU student, Angela Piccolo.
And according to BYU political science professor, David Magelby, over 650 college students are out interviewing people in exit polls on election day.
Professor Magelby started the Utah Colleges exit poll in 1982. The data comes in and students work to make the projections. And for the first time this year, early voters are a big part of the exit poll through an online survey.
"We're going to analyze the differences between the way people vote and how that impacts how they vote," Magelby said. "We think there might be some important differences between early voters and absentee voters and election days voters and those who have voted prior to election day."
While the voting rooms turn more chaotic as the day goes on, the students organizing this year's exit poll couldn't be more excited to be involved.
"It's a really fun way to get involved at the ground level with something going on right now in politics," said political science research assistant, Matthew Frei. "Quite literally we're studying something that is evolving as we speak, so it makes it a challenge, but it makes it interesting."
One projection many people will be watching for tonight, will be the Matheson-Love race in the new 4th Congressional District. More information will be posted as it becomes available, including the exit poll results after the polls close at 8 p.m.
”I can't stand it. I'm so glad it's over!” she said. The negative campaigning and divisive rhetoric on social media has been especially hard for her to deal with, she said.
”It was just driving me insane,” Chandler said.
Similar potentially record-setting turnout was anticipated in Utah County, where long lines were reported in some polling places, according to Utah County Clerk Bryan Thompson, but no major problems have been reported.
Just before noon, voters at one polling location in Lehi reported waits of about 90 minutes.
Utah County has an estimated 250,000 registered voters on its rolls and the vast majority are expected to participate in today's election.
"We're shooting for about 75 to 80 percent voter turnout the way it's going," Thompson said. "Eighty percent would be a record number."
In Davis County, turnout is also expected to hit nearly 80 percent of the approximately 158,000 registered voters, said Davis County Clerk Steve Rawlings. There were lines early on, but following the morning rush, things settled down a bit, he said.
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So far, 40 percent of Davis voters have already cast their ballots either today or through other early voting options, he added.
With projected record-breaking voter turnout, party officials on Tuesday encouraged voters to arrive at their polling locations by 8 p.m. to cast their ballots. State law requires that anyone in line to vote by 8 p.m. will be allowed to cast their ballot.
“The turnout this year far exceeds our expectations and will likely break previous voter turnout records. Clearly, people are excited to vote” said Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright. “I encourage all voters to arrive at their polling locations by 8 p.m. and be patient as many of your neighbors will also be voting.”
At Washington Elementary School in Salt Lake City, poll workers spent Monday evening setting up the voting machines. They installed the memory cards, and then opened the doors at 7 a.m. Tuesday — along with 2,500 other polling places statewide.
At Sunset Ridge Middle School in West Jordan, at least 200 people lined up to vote shortly after the polls opened. One KSL commenter said of the long lines, "Glad to see so many (people) using their rights (to vote)."
Voters at Pony Express Elementary in Eagle Mountain tweeted Tuesday morning that more than 300 people were in line to vote, with some of the voting machines appearing to not be in use.
Scott Hogensen, Utah County chief deputy clerk/auditor, said he had not heard of any major problems with voting machines.
"We have like 1,500 machines. Nearly all of them are out. When you have that many machines, there's going to be a few that you have to fix," he told KSL Newsradio this morning. He said any fixes are minor.
"Extra care is taken to make sure they're working right before people vote on them," he added.
Polls will be open until 8 p.m. You can find your polling place here. Check ksl.com, KSL TV and KSL Newsradio for updates throughout the day and extended election coverage this evening. As results come in, you can join the Twitter conversation at #KSLPolitics.
Contributing:Geoff Liesik
