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SALT LAKE CITY — Sixteen pallets stacked full of ballots arrived at the Salt Lake City Post Office on Monday.
Over the next few days, those ballots will be delivered to more 80,000 mailboxes throughout the city in advance of the Aug. 11 primary election.
It's the first year Utah's capital city has chosen vote-by-mail as a standard, following a growing statewide trend. Thousands of other ballots were mailed across Utah on Monday, with 14 out of Salt Lake County's 16 cities, minus Taylorsville and West Valley City, and 90 of Utah's 246 municipalities having chosen vote-by-mail.
Though individual voters have been able to request mail-in ballots in the past, election officials hope the switch — a first for many other Utah cities — will help fight notoriously low voter turnout.
"Voters now have weeks to consider the issues and the candidates and then vote from a postage-paid ballot from the privacy and comfort of their own homes," said Salt Lake City Recorder Cindi Mansell. "I don't know how we can make it any more convenient."
The trend
More cities opted for vote-by-mail after 10 counties, including Davis, chose a countywide vote-by-mail standard last year and saw a significant boost in voter turnout.
Also, in Salt Lake County's 2013 municipal elections, voter participation in Cottonwood Heights and West Jordan tripled and doubled, respectively.
Rozan Mitchell, Salt Lake County elections director, said while turnout will likely vary from city to city based on public interest, it's expected that Salt Lake City's vote-by-mail program, along with a high-profile mayoral race, will attract a 40 percent turnout for primary elections and up to 60 percent participation for the general election.
Elections officials have established a tracking system and affidavits for security, Mitchell said. If voters aren't comfortable with mailing it back, they can drop ballots off at polling centers and designated bins, she said.
While traditional polling locations will not be available this year in Salt Lake County or in other cities opting for vote-by-mail, voters can still go to consolidated voting centers if they prefer to cast their ballots in person.
"We feel we have made every effort to provide opportunities to vote, whether it's by mail or to go in person," Mitchell said, adding it's still disappointing to see low voter turnout despite those efforts. "It would be nice to see more people engaged in this process."
Of Utah County's 26 cities, four have chosen vote-by-mail this year: Alpine, Cedar Hills, Lehi and Orem. Eight of Davis County's 15 cities also have made the switch: Clinton, Clearfield, Farmington, Fruit Heights, Kaysville, North Salt Lake, Syracuse and Woods Cross.
For cities holding primary elections, voters now have about a month to cast their votes, with ballots requiring postmarks by Aug 10. Another surge of ballots will hit mailboxes starting Oct. 5 for the Nov. 3 general election.
Statewide and fiscal impact
State Elections Director Mark Thomas said with a growing number of municipalities conducting vote-by-mail elections, it will be helpful for state officials as they gather data to consider whether it should be a statewide standard.
"We have a toe in the water, but we're not all the way in yet," Thomas said.
In the meantime, state elections officials will be watching how vote-by-mail will be received, he said.
"Right now we're allowing the local county or cities make that decision for what's best for them," Thomas said. "It may work well in some areas, and it may not work as well in other areas depending on cost and how many voters already have vote-by-mail."
Cost savings also varies from city or county, depending on each municipality's polling equipment and staff. Scott Hogginson, Utah County chief deputy clerk/auditor, said it would cost the county more to transition fully to vote-by-mail because of the changes of procedures and need for more machinery.
But Davis County Clerk/Auditor Curtis Koch said last year's countywide vote-by-mail election cost slightly less than traditional polling. Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said the switch is saving about $63,000 across all participating cities this year.
Thomas said even though studies show vote-by-mail participation does gradually drop in larger elections, a sustained increase in municipal election voter turnout by 5 percent to 10 percent is expected.
Political influence
Brigham Young University political science professor David Magleby said he doesn't believe vote-by-mail will be a long-term solution to Utah's low voter turnout because studies show participation wanes after initial implementation.
Nonetheless, vote-by-mail does change the landscape for political candidates, adding an advantage to those with more funds, he said.
With Salt Lake City's high-profile mayoral race as an example, Magleby said he believes vote-by-mail could give Mayor Ralph Becker an added advantage. So far, Becker has nearly $620,000 in campaign funds.
"It used to be that electioneering was timed for a particular day, but now it means that electioneering and campaigning needs to be over a longer period of time and at a higher level, which means campaigns are more expensive," Magleby said.
"It also puts a premium on campaigns that are more organized to mobilize a vote because they can target people and then monitor the extent to which those people have already voted," he added. "So it makes sophisticated campaigns even more likely to succeed than they otherwise would."
Contributing: Mike Anderson
