Paperwork from GOP straining clerks

If people do not check a party affiliation box on one of the forms, the clerks are required to register them as unaffiliated. Because most of the forms she receives are from the DMV, most of her voters become unaffiliated without realizing it, she said.

"It creates a lot of issues and people don't like it. It takes a lot of time to fill out the form, and it holds up the lines (at the polls)," Martello said. "This is an issue the Republican Party and the DMV need to address."

Chris Bleak, executive director of the Utah Republican Party said, "We want to have a strong relationship with county clerks, and we want to work closely with them. We would be happy to hear any suggestions to make things easier."

Bleak also pointed out that the federal Help America Vote Act may lighten the burden on county clerks when it takes effect by next year, Bleak said.

The law requires states to create a "single, uniform, official centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained and administered at the state level" for federal elections.

This new system would be under Amy Naccarrato, state elections officer. Naccarrato was not available for comment.

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