Early-voting is termed a big success

A turnout of less than 1 percent of eligible voters may not sound exciting, but for county and state election officials dealing with early voting, the number is huge.

Almost 10,000 voters cast ballots early during the first early-voting period in the state's history. The period ended Friday after two weeks. Ballots for primary elections were cast on the new, ATM-style electronic voting machines at county clerks' offices and some satellite offices in much of the state.

"We have heard almost all good things," said Joe Demma, the chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, who oversees Utah elections. "I could count on one hand the problems we have had. ... It's been a nice, soft release for the voting machines and a great way for some of the voting officials to experience the new machines."

Demma said that the turnout, while significantly lower than in other states, is "not low, considering that this is the first time it has

been done" and that it's a primary election. He expects that as people become more aware of the ability to vote early and get comfortable with the new machines, use will expand.

Voters have always had a backdoor option to vote early by using an absentee ballot. With early voting, however, people cast the same ballots on the same machines as voters will use in Tuesday's primary election.

Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said that approximately 1,000 people cast early ballots at one of four polling locations around the valley. By all reports, everything went smoothly and there were almost no reported problems.

"It has been very successful, and we've heard from a lot of people who really like the machines and the convenience of voting early," she said. Because people seem to like the machines, "it makes me confident that things will run smoothly on election day."

She said that the county will probably provide longer hours and more polling locations for early voting before the November general election.

"It may take awhile, but I think early voting will catch on and become very popular," she said.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com