Previously, Utah voters had to postmark their ballots by the day of the election to mail them in. A new state law is changing that this year.
Now, election workers will need to receive ballots by 8 p.m. on election day for them to count. That change begins with the Aug. 12, 2025, primary.
Summit County Clerk Eve Furse said there’s no way to predict how long the mail will take and recommends voting early.
“It has to actually be here by 8 o'clock, so if people are mailing in a ballot, they should mail it super early,” she said. “Or put it in a drop box if they can't get it in early, or come vote in person.”
The other two ways to vote are not changing: lining up in-person by 8 p.m. on election day or placing a ballot in a drop box by 8 p.m. on election day.
A couple other changes are coming to Summit County specifically, to comply with new Utah law deadlines by 2029.
Furse said her office will start including a line on ballots where residents can opt in to receiving ballots by mail going forward.
Utah law states voters will continue to receive mail-in ballots until 2029. After that, residents will need to opt in to receive one. The Summit County Clerk’s Office is giving voters a chance to opt-in early.
The final change is the office will also start printing a section for voters to put their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security Number.
Election officials are required to start printing that section by 2026, and by 2029, it will be the only way to match each ballot with each voter — replacing signature verification.
“So it creates a slightly more objective way to look at whether someone's ballot should count or not,” Furse said.
Until 2029, election workers will be allowed to verify ballots by voter signature if the driver’s license number or SSN are illegible or don’t match what’s on file.
Click here for more information on changes mandated by House Bill 300.

Four Summit County towns have primary elections on Aug. 12: Park City, Coalville, Francis and Henefer.
The Summit County Clerk’s Office tested its voting equipment for residents, the media and some candidates July 21. Staff said there were no issues with the voting machines or counters.
Click here for KPCW's previous summary of the legally-required logic and accuracy test.
This year, clerks were hoping to demonstrate the iPads voters will use to check in the polls. However, an error when uploading a sample voter database prevented that. Testing the tablets isn’t required under state law, and they aren't involved in the actual vote-counting process. Check-in can also be done by hand.
The clerk’s office is mailing out ballots July 22.
It will test voting equipment again Oct. 13 ahead of the Nov. 4 general municipal election.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW. For a full list, click here.