SALT LAKE CITY – A recent survey conducted by the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics found that 75% of Utah voters trust the vote-by-mail system.
A breakdown The numbers show that 35% of Utahns have a lot of confidence in the process. 39% have some confidence in it, 16% have little confidence in it and 9% have no confidence in the state process at all.
As of Tuesday, October 29, more than 400,000 Utah voters have already returned their ballots.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson joined KSL at Night and said the numbers make sense in her experience.
Related: Early voting in Utah is off to a strong start
Henderson is technically the state’s Chief Election Officer. She does not organize elections – that is the job of a district secretary – but supervises them.
She says Utahns’ actions show they value the vote-by-mail process.
“We want people to vote the way they feel most comfortable,” she said. “Some people like the ability to go to a booth in person and get an ‘I Voted’ sticker. But most people choose to sit at their kitchen counter and look up their candidates and the jury members… And then put their ballot in the mail or in the mailbox.”
She says the “buzz and noise” surrounding mail-in voting doesn’t seem to have an impact on how Utahns feel about it.
Related: Here’s how Salt Lake County’s ballot boxes are being protected from fire
“Afrom the thingsthatIloveabout to vote Through mailisthisideafrom a civilinvolvementaroundthe kitchentablewith yourfamilymembers,” she said. “I haveheardfrom somanypeopleWhoto havehadtheirchildrenthere,and they aretalkThroughthiswith theirchildren,and theirchildrenareto lookthem participatein the mostfundamentaldemocraticprocessthatWeasGoodcitizensneedto engagein.”
Henderson said those concerned about voting by mail can track their vote at trackmyballot.utah.gov.
“If peopleareinvolvedorOrdinarywantto to makeCertainlythatwhenshesetstheirmoodin duckropbox or… in the mail,thatItactuallydoto getreceivedand countedThroughtheirprovinceclerk,thisishowyoudoingIt. Yousignupwardsand youto getthat onetextnotifications. We havehadpast37,000 peoplethismonthonlysignupwardsfor that,” she said.
We want to hear from you.
Do you have a story idea or tip? Send it to the KSL NewsRadio team here.