From Deseret News archives:
Final vote tallies boost GOP even more
Candidates gain almost 60,000 votes; outcome is the same
In most cases, the Republican candidates for state and national offices increased their already overwhelming leads, thanks in large part to approximately 33,000 straight party votes that were not counted in Utah County because of a programming error.
The outcome of all races remained the same, including the race between Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Republican John Swallow, which was the only national or statewide race with a Democrat winning.
When coupled with approved provisional ballots, absentee totals and by-mail districts, Republicans in national and statewide races — including President Bush, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman — all gained almost 60,000 votes, while their Democratic challengers gained barely more than 15,000. Swallow also gained more than Matheson, although he only had approximately 18,000 new to Matheson's 12,000.
The final vote tallies were released Monday following a meeting of the Utah Board of Canvassers, which is made up of Lt. Gov. Gayle McKeachnie, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, State Auditor Auston Johnson and State Treasurer Ed Alter. The totals were only for statewide races, judicial retentions, and congressional or legislative races that included more than one county.
The numbers, which were reviewed by Johnson's office for accuracy prior to the meeting, "were just fine," he said.
The approval of the election results by the canvassing board lasted less than five minutes, a good thing as far as McKeachnie was concerned.
"None of us much wanted to stand in front of the cameras like they did in Florida" in 2000, he said. "We successfully avoided that."
Prior to the meeting, Alter joked that he was surprised that more people did not register as write-in candidates, since it only took one vote — their own — to get their name permanently archived in state history.
"I think if people knew just one vote would get your name on this list, there would be a lot more," he said. "That's probably a good thing."
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com
