SALT LAKE CITY — Starting Monday, more than 920,000 primary ballots will be flooding mailboxes in 20 of Utah's 29 counties.

Never before have so many Utah counties decided to hold vote-by-mail elections — making up 73 percent of the state's 1.3 million registered voter population. The trend is spreading not only along the Wasatch Front, but also to rural counties as far away as Cache County to the north to Kane County in the south.

That's why county clerks from across the state gathered at the Salt Lake County Government Center on Thursday to make sure voters know what to expect for the upcoming June 28 primaries.

"Your ballots will be in the mail in the next week or so, so please check your mailbox, look for your ballot," said Iron County Clerk Jon Whittaker. "If you don't receive one or you have any questions, please contact your county clerk's office."

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

State Elections Director Mark Thomas said this year's elections will help state officials and lawmakers decide whether vote-by-mail should extend statewide.

"We're in a transition period, so this is a good test to put our toe in the water," he said. "We'll be looking at that over the next year, looking at the feedback and the data of what happens this year, particularly with such a large population going vote-by-mail."

Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch said the vote-by-mail trend has grown as more county clerks realize the benefits of allowing voters the convenience of voting on their own time from their own homes without having to opt in to absentee voting.

Benefits

The benefits? Hatch said vote-by-mail elections have higher turnout results while decreasing the costs of future elections by allowing counties to extend the life of their voting equipment.

"Most importantly, vote-by-mail results in a more informed and educated voter by proactively placing the ballot in voters' hands three weeks prior to (the election)," he said. "No more being surprised at the ballot box by a race or an initiative you didn't know about."

All vote-by-mail counties are required to open at least one vote center on the day of the election for those who prefer or need to vote in person. Some counties will have more than one vote center, depending on their size.

While Salt Lake County will have 24 vote centers, Davis County will have 17 and Weber will have nine. Visit your county clerk's website for more information on locations.

Traditional election

Utah County Clerk Bryan Thompson has said he chose the traditional election because the county is better equipped to handle traditional voting, and more residents seem to prefer to vote in person. Out of Utah County's nearly 250,000 registered voters, only 8 percent have signed up for absentee voting.

As for Tooele County, 31 percent of its nearly 26,000 registered voters have signed up for absentee voting. Clerk Marilyn Gillette said Tooele County will eventually opt into vote-by-mail elections.

"But we're taking it a little at a time because we don't have high-speed scanners like Salt Lake County does," she said.

Davis County Clerk/Auditor Curtis Koch acknowledged that some voters may have concerns about privacy and security, but he said there are systems in place to ensure that ballots are secure. He said ballots are sealed, signatures are compared in a government database, and any duplicate ballots (resulting from a voter casting a by-mail ballot and then voting in person) are flagged and rejected.

Swensen urged voters to remember ballots must be postmarked by June 27 or they can be dropped off at designated drop boxes or at vote centers on June 28.

"We encourage voters to return their ballots sooner rather than later because that will help us get those totals included in the election night returns," she said.

Since Utah's two statewide races are partisan, voters will have to decide between voting in either the GOP governor's race between Gov. Gary Herbert and challenger Jonathan Johnson, or the Democratic U.S. Senate race, with two candidates competing to challenge Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in November.

The deadline to change party affiliation — May 23 — has already passed, but unaffiliated registered voters can affiliate on June 28 in any county. Unregistered voters will need to register by June 21, unless their county is holding same-day registration.

Clerks urged voters to visit vote.utah.gov or contact their clerks if they have questions or concerns. Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com Twitter: KatieMcKellar1

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