Sherrie Swensen is anxious.

With three weeks before the Nov. 2 general election, the Salt Lake County clerk still doesn't know for sure whether to put write-in candidate Ellis Ivory on the ballot as the Republicans' official candidate.

"Time is of the essence here," Swensen said. "We've never done anything like this before in terms of this magnitude."

Particularly given the extremely tight time line.

GOP incumbent Nancy Workman withdrew Tuesday with a doctor's note saying she is disabled, and county Republican Party Chairwoman Tiani Coleman certified Ivory as the Republican's candidate the next day — unusual, in that the party's central committee hasn't met to formally make the decision. (The central committee voted Oct. 5 to support Ivory, but Workman was still on the ballot at the time.)

So Swensen has put the matter before county and state attorneys, who are trying to figure out whether Workman's physician note and the party certification are legally sufficient.

"I'm pleading with them to get it to us as soon as they can," Swensen said. "They're still researching and working on it, and I hope they can come to a conclusion very soon."

If Swensen gets the go-ahead, the process may still face a lawsuit from Democrats, who have threatened to do as much, but she said Thursday that even if they do sue she'll go ahead and start the process as soon as she gets the legal go-ahead.

The county has about 4,600 voting machine booklets that need to be changed to reflect the fact that Workman withdrew and (should the attorneys say yes) that Ivory is the GOP candidate. Swensen said she plans to do both at once by putting a single double-wide sticker on the booklet, with one line reflecting Workman's status and the other reflecting Ivory's.

Ivory would take the place of Green Party candidate Diana Lee Hirschi, who withdrew earlier.

The booklets are already packed in boxes, ready to be shipped to polling locations, meaning they'll have to be unpacked, changed and repacked. But it's better the task be done at the clerk's central office, rather than by polling judges who may or may not understand.

Depending on when she hears back from the attorneys, Swensen may put off delivery of the booklets for a few days.

"It's awfully close, and it might change our schedule a little bit, but the good news is we don't have to wait 10 days" for the Republicans to meet to officially certify Ivory, she said. "When I heard that, I just about died."

The central committee is still scheduled to meet Oct. 26, just to make sure Ivory is certified correctly.

Swensen isn't sure how much all this is going to cost, what with bringing in temporary employees and printing up stickers and the like. If it's too much, she may have to ask the County Council for a year-end budget adjustment.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com