Residents in the five Utah County cities holding vote-by-mail elections this year won’t have to cast two ballots to weigh in on both city and county issues. Elections officials have reached a compromise after five cities — Alpine, Cedar Hills, Lehi, Orem and Vineyard — protested the Utah County clerk’s refusal to allow a proposed sales tax increase to be printed on mail-in ballots. The compromise came in a private meeting Monday afternoon between Utah County Clerk Bryan Thompson and representatives from the five cities and the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office.
… Thompson said he was concerned that allowing the sales tax proposal to be placed on vote-by-mail ballots would give those cities unfair pull in determining the success or failure of the countywide proposal because by-mail elections typically increase turnout. But mayors of the vote-by-mail cities contended that their residents’ voices would actually be stifled regarding the countywide tax because it would be confusing for them to have to cast two ballots.
Under Monday’s agreement, every voter in the county will cast only one ballot for both municipal elections and the county ballot proposition. The five vote-by-mail cities will continue to conduct their municipal general election by mail, while the other municipalities in Utah County will conduct a traditional election.
Full Article: Utah County residents in vote-by-mail cities won’t need to cast ballots twice | Deseret News.