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SALT LAKE CITY — More than one-third of active voters in Utah have cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, according to the latest numbers released Thursday by Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson.
Henderson posts an update to the social platform X each morning showing the total number of ballots processed and the voter turnout across the state's 29 counties. A total of 608,488 Utahns have now cast ballots, according to the latest update, putting statewide turnout at 33.9%.
Several small counties — including Beaver, Daggett and Wasatch, which had few or no ballots processed earlier in the week — have seen a sharp uptick in turnout since they began processing votes in recent days. Clerks in Beaver and Wasatch counties told KSL.com they usually begin processing ballots later than other counties because they have far fewer voters than large counties along the Wasatch Front.
Grand County boasts the highest early turnout as of Thursday, with 54%, while Utah County's 25.3% is the lowest mark in the state.
More than 97% of votes cast so far have been cast by mail, which "KSL at Night" host Taylor Morgan says aligns with a new poll that shows three-quarters of Utah voters have faith in the state's vote-by-mail system.
"So, we are seeing a ton of Utah voters participate through by-mail voting," he told KSL NewsRadio on Wednesday. "Republicans in Utah are voting by mail at a significantly higher rate earlier in the cycle, earlier in the process, than they ever have before."
🚨HAPPY HALLOWEEN🚨
— Deidre Henderson (@DeidreHenderson) October 31, 2024
Here's the morning #Election2024 update!
🎃 Statewide: 33.9%
👻 Total ballots: 608,488
🦇By mail: 590,607
🧛🏻♂️In person: 17,881
Highest county: Grand 54%
Lowest county: Utah 25.3%
Track your ballot and get election info at https://t.co/Mb1WY6NazI. 🗳️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/o1QYSy55yt
Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman told KSL.com her jurisdiction is "seeing a surge in interest in registering to vote, updating addresses and Salt Lake County voters overall making sure they have their voices heard in the 2024 elections."
Some political consultants expect a similar number of voters to turn out this year compared to the last presidential election in 2020 when just over 1.5 million ballots were cast. That year had the highest voter turnout on record in Utah, with 90.09% of active voters casting a ballot.
Utah's turnout could drop this year compared to 2020, even if 1.5 million votes are cast because there are around 112,000 additional active voters compared to four years ago.
Still, the presidential election and statewide races for governor and U.S. Senate are expected to lead to solid turnout when all the votes are counted.
"Previous elections put us in the 80 to 90% range," San Juan County Clerk Lyman Duncan told said Tuesday. "We're running below that, so we would have to almost double our ballot intake in the next seven days — which would be a tremendous amount of work — but we're prepared for it. We're just not seeing a lot at our early voting sites, but we are seeing a lot coming through the mail."
With Nov. 5 quickly approaching, voters who wish to vote by mail must ensure their return envelope is postmarked by Monday to be counted. If voters haven't mailed their ballots by Friday, Chapman recommends they take their envelope to a post office and request that it be date-stamped at the counter to ensure it is postmarked in time.
Information about in-person polling locations and ballot drop boxes can be found on your local county clerk's website, or at vote.utah.gov.
