BOSTON — Ohio, one of a handful of battleground states where the election is expected to be decided in November, put John Kerry over the top late Wednesday at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, officially making him the party's nominee for president of the United States.

Kerry will accept the nomination today, the final day of a political convention that has focused on building unity among Democrats while stopping short of attacking President Bush.

Utah — near the end of the alphabet and a GOP stronghold to boot — didn't deliver its votes for Kerry until midnight local time, long after the prime-time broadcast of the convention had ended and the convention hall had started to empty.

Still, Utah's delegates stood proudly by as the state's Democratic Party chairman, Donald Dunn, announced the vote.

First, though, Dunn said he was speaking for "the great state of Utah, home to Democrats from the beautiful red rock of southern Utah and the snow-capped mountains along the Wasatch Front and the Wasatch Back, and home to proud Democrats in every corner and valley of the Beehive State, with visionary leaders like Scott and Jim Matheson."

Then he offered a little humor: "Let it be known every vote for John Kerry will be counted in Utah," before finishing with, "Utah, a founding member of the Democrats of the West, is delighted to cast all of our votes for John Kerry, the next president of the United States."

All of Utah's votes turned out not to be the 29 the state was expected to cast, but 28 because the state's sole member of Congress, Jim Matheson, chose not to attend the convention.

When Matheson said earlier this month that he was skipping the convention to campaign, state party officials said an alternate delegate would be able to cast his vote.

But Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch said the party had just discovered that Matheson couldn't be replaced because he's what is known as a "super delegate," earning his spot in the delegation as a member of Congress.

Dunn said he wasn't concerned about the last-minute loss of a delegate vote. Matheson's staff had said previously they believed he could be replaced in the delegation.

The roll-call vote followed the debut of the No. 2 man on the party's ticket, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. Edwards came in second in Utah's Democratic presidential primary behind Kerry, with 30 percent of the vote.

His supporters in the Utah delegation may have voted for Kerry Wednesday, but they were still thrilled to see Edwards make his convention debut, delivering the message, "Hope is on the way" to a wildly enthusiastic arena.

"I think he's wonderful," said Gina Wickwar, an Edwards delegate from Logan. "He's so telegenic. That's a nice way to say handsome. And he's a wonderful speaker."