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SALT LAKE CITY — With Election Day one week away, the U.S. Postal Service on Monday urged Utah voters in cities conducting vote-by-mail elections to mail in their ballots now.
"We are proud of mail's widespread usage as an efficient and effective means for citizens to participate in the voting process," said the U.S. Postal Service's district manager Darrell Stoke. "The Postal Service anticipates a large influx of mail-in ballots this election season, and we are ready to ensure every Utah vote is counted."
Vote-by-mail election ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 2 in order to be counted, according to Utah law.
Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said voters who have made up their minds should send in their ballots now in order to avoid a flood of last-minute mail and to make sure election night results reflect as many votes as possible.
"Help us get our work done because it's very labor intensive," she said.
"Of the 402,000 ballots we sent out countywide, we've received almost 84,000 back," she said.
Twenty percent may not seem like much, but Swensen said that puts the area on track for 60 percent voter turnout.
Last-minute ballots could also cloud results of close races, Swensen said, leaving winners uncertain until canvass boards finalize votes about two weeks after Election Day.
"I think it could come down to (a canvass) in any number of races," she said. "If people want to make sure their votes are included in election night results, it helps if they have made up their mind so we can get their ballots processed now."
Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 2.
