When the Utah County commissioners voted Tuesday to place a local sales tax increase on the general election ballot, they included a modification to the motion that would not allow cities to hold a vote-by-mail option in the general election. According to the modification, made after the recommendation of Utah County Clerk/Auditor Bryan Thompson in order to have “equal access to all citizens that will be voting on this countywide issue,” cities will not have a vote-by-mail option when it comes to the sales tax measure. County residents will have the option of voting at a polling place on paper or electronically, or they can request an absentee ballot, according to Thompson. Thompson said that by allowing the five cities that held a vote-by-mail election for the primary election to provide that same option to their respective cities, “You’re giving the citizens in those five cities a greater say potentially.”
“Early voting and Election Day voting will be the same in all cities and all areas of the county,” he added. “You won’t have some cities that automatically send out ballots to everybody. It makes it fair and equal across the board as far as access.”
Commissioner Larry Ellertson said the three-member commission included the modification in the resolution based on the clerk/auditor’s recommendation because “it was his recommendation that you want to make sure everyone has the same ability to access the polls and the ballots … and if some of it is done by mail you’re not giving everyone the same opportunity.”
Full Article: Five cities’ vote-by-mail put in limbo.