Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
- Weber County is gearing up for significant voter turnout ahead of Election Day, with expectations reaching as high as 91%.
- Shelly Jackson, Utah's deputy director of elections, highlighted the transparent ballot processing system open for public observation in all 29 counties.
OGDEN — Ballots are already starting to trickle into county clerks' offices with less than three weeks until Election Day.
In Weber County, clerk and auditor Ricky Hatch said several hundred ballots have already been returned, and his team is preparing for high voter turnout.
"It should be robust," Hatch told KSL-TV Friday. "We're thinking it's 88, 90, 91%."
Hatch said voters usually show up for a presidential election. That was certainly the case four years ago.
"In 2020, we had about 90% turnout across the state," said Shelly Jackson, Utah deputy director of elections. "That's very high. Probably won't see that this year, but you never know."
Ballots were mailed out this week. Jackson urged voters to turn in their ballots early. Plus, she added, anyone can observe ballot processing in any of Utah's 29 counties.
"It's one of the most transparent processes in government," Jackson said.
KSL-TV visited the Weber County ballot processing center on Friday in the basement of the government center in Ogden. Two election workers were busy scanning envelopes that were sent out but came back undeliverable.
Locked away in another part of the center sat a batch of completed ballots that were ready to be processed.
It was fairly quiet with not much activity, but Hatch said that's likely to change starting Monday when ballots will start "churning in."
Hatch echoed the importance of observing ballot processing, which is required by state law to be open to the public.
"We want the public to be as involved as they want to be and to see whatever they would like to see," Hatch said.
Any Utahn who hasn't received their ballot yet or has questions can contact their county clerk's office. Ballots can also be tracked throughout the process. More information is available at vote.utah.gov.
