There’s only one primary election in Summit County this municipal election season—for three open seats on the Park City Council. Seven candidates are in the race: current City Councilmembers Nann Worel and Becca Gerber; Deanna Rhodes; Max Doilney; Chadwick Fairbanks III; Ed Parigian; and Daniel Lewis. The results of Tuesday’s primary will remove one candidate from the race, sending six to the November 5 general election.
By now, registered voters in Park City proper should have received their ballots in the mail—and some have already completed them and sent them back. Summit County Clerk Kent Jones says of some 5,000 ballots his office sent out, he estimates he’ll have 1,000 in by the end of the week. The cost per mailed ballot—the envelope, postage and return envelope—is about $1.65 per registered voter.
Before vote-by-mail, when voters primarily voted in person with punch cards or a touch screen, Jones says primary elections would typically see 15 to 30% turnout. Across the state, the implementation of vote-by-mail has voter participation up, and Jones estimates its increased participation by Summit County voters 15 to 20%. But Jones says turnout really depends on what’s being voted on.
“Voter turnout generally is driven by what is on the ballot," Jones said. "If you have controversial or if you have something that's real popular or something that people are really buying into, then you're going to get a high return.”
The instructions for voting by mail are detailed on the ballots, but sometimes people might miss something. Jones’ office sorts through each ballot by hand, and out of every 50 ballots, one or two have problems with the signature—either that the voter didn’t sign the ballot, or the signature doesn’t match what the clerk has on file.
“On those cases, what we do is we would send a letter back to the registered voter that same day—the same day we find the discrepancy—and say, 'hey, we received your ballot. You forgot to sign it. Sign this affidavit and return it to us, and your ballot will be counted.'”
If voters plan to return their ballots by mail, they need to be postmarked by Aug. 12, the day before the election, to be counted. Otherwise, voters can drop their ballots at official drop boxes located at the Park City Municipal Building on 445 Marsac Ave. and The Market at Park City on 1500 Snow Creek Dr. In-person voting will be open Aug. 13 at the Park City Municipal Building from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., at which those who have not yet registered to vote can do so, with a photo I.D. and proof of residency.
