“Why is this taking so long” and Other Election Musings

On October 27th, a full 10 days prior to the election, I tweeted this:

Now here we are a week after election night and the biggest race in the state — the 4th Congressional District race between Mia Love and Ben McAdams — is still too close to call. At the time I’m writing this (late on Wednesday night), this is where things stand:

Just like you, I’m beyond anxious to get the final results for this race and others (the 4th District just happens to be my district). As you might imagine, my Elections Office and I have been receiving lots of questions — things like “why aren’t results available on Election Day anymore?”, “what’s taking so long?” and, “why are you a terrible piece of garbage”?

In the age of Vote By Mail (27 of our 29 counties now run elections this way) voter participation is reaching record levels — a great sign for the future of our Republic — but of necessity, there have also been some significant changes to the timelines and processes we’re used to. Let me share a few observations and thoughts.

Turnout

First the good news: Voter turnout in the state of Utah was bonkers for a midterm election. In 2014, only 46% of registered voters decided to cast a ballot. As this election drew closer I told my staff that I thought we could hit 60% this time around — and maybe, just maybe — 65%. My staff thought I was crazy. And they were right. But not in the way they thought. When all is said and done this election cycle, we will likely exceed 70%! Congratulations guys. I’m so proud of us.

Election night decisions?

I know what you are thinking: “I miss the good old days when every election was decided on election night.” I hear it all the time. The only problem is that it’s not true.

A quick personal story: In 2008, I ran for a seat on the Sanpete County Commission. When the ballots were counted on election night, I had won by about 60 votes! Or at least I thought I did. You see, there were still 90-ish absentee and provisional ballots outstanding. And even though they were likely counted over the next few days, Utah law at the time prohibited the county from releasing those numbers until the official canvass two weeks later. It was an excruciating wait. Luckily for me, I still won in the end — but I know how Mia and Ben and their supporters feel right now.

Fortunately, in 2016 we changed Utah law to allow for regular updates prior to the canvass. Most counties have chosen to release updates on Tuesdays and Fridays. This means almost every race will be decided much sooner than the 2-week deadline. Unless, of course, the race is super close. And the 4th District is super close.

Why the delay?

This is definitely the question I get the most. Fortunately, Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke stole my thunder and wrote a great piece explaining why counting is so time consuming. (You can, and definitely should, read it here)

There are a few things everyone needs to know. One down-side of Vote By Mail is that it takes much longer to process ballots because clerks need to make sure that only legal, registered voters get to vote. This means actual people have to verify signatures and then separate the ballot from the privacy envelope. If that signature doesn’t match, then the clerk attempts to contact the voter. Only then can the ballot be counted.

Furthermore, because ballots can be postmarked until the day before the election, tens of thousands of valid ballots were received after election day. Because over 80% of voters used a mail ballot this election, the increased voter turnout inevitably means it will take more time to process the extra ballots. So if you want to help your county clerk and get faster results, don’t wait until the last minute to mail in your ballot!

And remember, election officials will always tell you that we are much more interested in getting it right — and counting every legal vote — than getting it fast.

Provisional ballots

This election, we also saw a record-breaking number of provisional ballots cast — largely because of Utah’s new same-day voter registration option. The information on a submitted provisional ballot has to be verified by an elections official to ensure the voter was eligible to vote and has voted using the correct ballot for where they live. Provisional ballots always take more time to verify, but our clerks are committed to making sure that every person eligible to vote has their vote counted.

An informed electorate

While we’re talking about elections, let me give a shout-out to Utah’s. At a time when many states are making it harder for people to vote, Utah has made it easier than ever to register and cast a ballot. And, judging by the change in turnout, it is absolutely working!

Additionally, one thing I love about Vote By Mail is that not only does it lead to more voters, it actually leads to more informed voters. Let’s face it, this ballot was as complicated as any we have seen in Utah. With candidates, judges, 3 constitutional amendments, 3 propositions, 1 non-binding opinion question (and a partridge in a pear…[my Chief of Staff just tased me for trying a dad joke]), this ballot was really confusing. However, by receiving our ballots 2–3 weeks in advance, Utahns actually spent more time researching and understanding the issues on the ballot than ever before. Again, good job by us Utah!

I demand a recount!

So, yea, about that 4th District race that is still too close to call. Could there be a recount? In Utah, the margin for recount is 0.25% of all votes cast in the contest. That means we have to count all the ballots before we know the margin that will result in a recount. If the difference is less than 0.25%, one of the candidates (or, in the case of an initiative, a group of voters) must request the recount.

Just to put that number into perspective, let’s assume that there are 250,000 votes cast in the 4th District race. 0.25% of 250,000 is 625 votes. At the time I am writing this, Ben McAdams is leading by 873 votes. So we are definitely approaching recount territory.

Litigation

While it is our policy not to comment on ongoing litigation, we are currently reviewing the implications of Mia Love’s lawsuit on our processes. At this point it does not appear that there is any statue that specifically addresses a challenge to a voter’s signature. Unless ordered otherwise by a judge, counties are bound by law to complete their canvass by November 20th.

Results rolling in…

County Clerks across the state are much less interested in counting ballots quickly than they are with counting them accurately and meeting the 2 week deadline. As mentioned above, in 2016 the legislature changed the law to allow clerks to release results during and after election day instead of requiring them to keep them secret for 2 weeks.

While Utah gives me “general supervisory authority” over elections, the truth is that all elections are county elections. County clerks are elected officials and have to do the heavy lifting and make the hard decisions. And they do amazing work! Honestly, it’s hard to fully comprehend how intense these two weeks are for the clerks and their staff who have worked long hours, weekends and holidays to continue processing this record number of votes. They deserve our thanks and gratitude.

Final Thoughts

Mostly I’m writing this in an attempt to help us all change the way we think about election night and results. Despite the media’s practice of “calling” elections or “conceding” the race, no election is really final until every vote is counted and the election is canvassed 2 weeks after election day. Utah is right on target and processing votes at the same rate as other Vote By Mail states. And while it may be hard to understand in this day of instant gratification, there is something kind of intriguing and fun about the drama of watching returns roll in throughout the week without knowing how things will turn out.

Instead of binge watching and regretting, we actually get to relax and watch a new episode every night. And that means we are all winners this election.

# # #