Kerry rolls to big victory in Utah

John Kerry breezed to a win Tuesday in Utah's Democratic primary — as he was also expected to do in Idaho's and Hawaii's primaries — and gained even more momentum heading into next week's critical Super Tuesday.

With a majority of voting locations reporting late Tuesday, Kerry won Utah with more than 50 percent of the vote compared with his nearest competitor, John Edwards, who received about 30 percent.

"Thank you, Utah. With outstanding turnout tonight, you've shown that Democrats in Utah are alive and well and ready to kick George W. Bush out of the White House," said Kerry from Ohio. "You've shown that what is uniting Americans from all walks of life, and from every region of the country is much more powerful than what has divided us during this president's term and in the years past. I thank you for standing with me today."

Dennis Kucinich registered less than 10 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary despite being the only candidate to step foot in the state recently.

Utah had 23 delegates to the Democratic National Convention up for grabs in Tuesday's vote. Candidates had to obtain at least 15 percent of the overall vote to garner any delegates, and they are then proportionally allotted according to votes received. They will be apportioned officially at the Utah State Democratic Party Convention in May. Six other uncommitted "super delegates" not tied to this election's results will also be sent to the Democratic convention this July in Boston.

The biggest election story in Utah on Tuesday, however, might not have been who won. It might have been who — and how many people — voted.

From St. George to Logan, many voting booths were hopping all day. All totaled, more than 20,000 Utahns participated in the primary — significantly more than what local party leaders anticipated.

"The turnout has just been overwhelming," said Utah Democratic Party chairman Donald Dunn. "It's great. It's absolutely great."

The party had to print 5,000 extra ballots for the 111 polling places at libraries all over Utah. Officials had to restock ballots all over — from Moab to South Jordan to Weber County, and even three times in Provo. A number of libraries photocopied ballots and marked them with identification numbers for control purposes while waiting for refills.

In Salt Lake City, volunteers decided to open voting before the scheduled noon kickoff at the Main Library because 20 voters arrived early and some became restless. A half-hour later, the line stretched about 100 yards across the library lobby and out the door.