This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Early voting begins Tuesday in Utah and will continue through Oct. 31. It comes before the official Nov. 4 Election Day to allow voters to cast ballots at their leisure, if they choose.
Such early in-person voting is available at numerous locations in larger counties, such as city halls and libraries. A list of polling places across the state is available online at vote.utah.gov.
Many Utah voters actually have had their ballots in hand for weeks because about a third of Utah's counties — nine of 29 — this year are conducting elections almost entirely by mail.
Those counties are Beaver, Cache, Davis, Duchesne, Garfield, Grand, San Juan, Sanpete and Sevier, said Justin Lee, deputy director of elections for Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox. Most also will offer some in-person voting centers on Election Day.
Other counties also allow voters to request by-mail ballots. In Salt Lake County, for example, about a third of registered voters have requested by-mail ballots, said County Clerk Sherrie Swensen.
Among offices up for grabs this year are all four Utah congressional districts, state attorney general, 89 legislative seats, county offices and state school board seats. Voters will also cast ballots in judicial retention elections and on ballot initiatives.
While deadlines have passed for voter registration by mail, online voter registration continues through Oct. 28. Also, in-person registration at county clerk offices is available through Oct. 27.
Four counties will also conduct an experiment in allowing Election Day voter registration this year: Davis, Weber, Salt Lake and Kane. Even though Davis is conducting by-mail voting, it will allow same-day registration at a few voting centers to be open on Election Day.