Election Day is here, Utah!
After months of campaigning, the final votes are being cast and counted across the Beehive State. Voters will make their call on everything from the presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to races for the state Legislature and other county-level seats.
Voters have until 8 p.m. to put their ballot in designated drop boxes around the state or vote in person at a polling location.
So, what happens once the polls close? Here are five things you need to know about how Utah elections work.
When will we see results?
The polls close at 8 p.m., but anyone who is in line at that time can still vote.
“We're going to hold [releasing] results until after those lines are gone,” said the state’s top elections official, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson (who, along with Gov. Spencer Cox is up for reelection). “We want to make sure everybody votes before we start releasing the results of the election.”
Depending on how long the lines are, Henderson said the first batch of results could be released by county clerks between 8 and 9 p.m.
“All the early voting in Utah, our clerks are allowed to pre-process all of those early ballots, so those will be the numbers that you'll see first up on election night.”
You can keep track of election results at the state elections website.
When will my ballot be counted?
It all depends on when you voted.
For those who returned their mail-in ballots early, their votes could be counted and released on Election Day. For those who waited until the last minute, it could take a bit longer.
That means “people really need to be patient.”
“All of the people who went and voted in person today [Nov. 5], those votes are not going to be counted tonight, those votes will probably be started, you know, counting tomorrow,” Henderson said.
“We also have people who put their ballots in the mailbox yesterday [Nov. 4], you know, you had to postmark your ballot by yesterday and so it takes a couple of days for those to come in. It just takes time.”
Voters can track the status of their ballot online.
When are the election results official?
KUER and NPR adhere to race calls made by the Associated Press. The AP only declares a winner when it has determined no scenario would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. That’s separate from the state election offices.
Henderson said her office will “never call elections in Utah.”
“It might be pretty obvious who wins in certain races based on how many ballots are outstanding and how many votes were cast for an individual candidate, but elections in Utah are not over [on Election Day],” she said.
Utah’s election results are not official until a statewide canvass of results on Nov. 25.
The canvassing process is open to the public and conducted by each county’s board of canvassers, which is made up of each county’s legislative body.
“That's going to be like your county commissions, your county councils,” Henderson said.
“They're the ones that actually certify the results of the election. It's an administerial job. They don't get to challenge anything. They don't get to, you know, make up their minds. They just look at the information that the clerk provides to them and then they sign off on it. And that should be a pretty mundane and boring process.”
How do we know the counting was fair?
Even before the canvassing process, counties will audit the ballot counting process to ensure it was conducted in a fair and legal manner.
Henderson said the state has “really worked to strengthen and bolster that auditing process” in recent years.
Her office will notify a county roughly 15 minutes before their audit begins.
“They pull the batches of ballots out, they don't know in advance, and they audit them to make sure that the way that the ballot appears is the way that the ballot was actually counted.”
This process happens in public view and Henderson encourages anyone curious to observe both the audit and certification procedures.
“I think that it really will help if you have any questions or doubts or concerns about how your vote is being counted. This will answer a lot of questions and I think really put people at ease.”
Is Utah prepared for what happens after Election Day?
After the tumultuous 2020 election and the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, the threat of political violence in the United States is a real possibility.
While there have been no major incidents in Utah, an envelope containing white powder was mailed to Henderson’s office in September. The envelope was intercepted in Reno, Nevada. It was signed by the “United States Traitor Elimination Army.”
When it comes to contingencies, Henderson said her office is “always trying to brainstorm possibilities” for how an election could be thrown off the rails.
“We've been taken by surprise a few times in the last few years, but we also have learned a lot in the past few years,” she said. “We are prepared for, hopefully, any eventuality.”
Election workers across the state have access to personal protective equipment when handling ballots at polling locations or ballot processing centers. Henderson has also been coordinating with local, state and federal law enforcement daily about any potential election-related violence or protests.
“We don't anticipate there being a lot of problems immediately,” she said.
“It's, you know, the coming weeks, though. We hope people just accept the results of the election, that's the key.”
KUER reached out to the Utah National Guard about their plans for election security. Spokesperson Lt. Col. Chris Kroeber said while they do not have active plans to be deployed on Election Day, the Guard is “confident in our readiness to support law enforcement when requested.”
“Come what may, we're going to be OK, as long as we all commit to living with each other, to seeing the humanity in each other, no matter who the other person voted for,” Henderson said.
“That's what we have to do, no matter what, we have to live with each other.“
