Democrat voting high in otherwise low turnout

SALT LAKE CITY — Across the state, voter turnout for Tuesday's primary election proved consistent with past primaries, with spikes in several of the areas belonging to the 2nd Congressional District where incumbent Jim Matheson and challenger Claudia Wright faced off in a Democratic primary.

With 80 percent of Utah's results reported, Mark Thomas, office administrator for Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, estimated statewide voter turnout would come in at 12 percent to 13 percent — which would put that figure right in line with the 13.5 percent from a primary in 2006 and 13.9 percent in 2004.

Late Tuesday night, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen prognosticated that voter turnout could reach 20 percent in her county, much of which participated in the 2nd District primary.

"Voting went really well," Swensen said. "In fact, it was really amazing. It started out slower (earlier) in the day, and then later in the afternoon toward evening, the phones just went crazy.

"I think it's because the press was trying to encourage people to vote, and all of a sudden the phone calls were just pouring in, kind of a last-minute rush in the evening, which is nice because I think it will make our turnout a lot better."

Conversely, with 201 of 296 precincts reporting Tuesday night, Utah County clerk and auditor Bryan Thompson predicted his county — most of which belongs to the 3rd Congressional District — would produce a voter turnout between 10 percent and 12 percent.

By far the feedback Thompson received most frequently Tuesday had to do with the proliferation of campaign signs posted on public property.

"All in all, probably the biggest thing I've heard from people out there today and my staff has heard is (people) are just frustrated with all the signs everywhere," he said. "That seems to be the biggie, and people (are) wanting to file complaints. We're not the police; we'll take care of any signs that are too close to our polling locations, but as far as what's in public property and on street corners and things like that, that's totally up to the city."

Polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

Of eligible voters statewide, Thomas said approximately 3.8 percent voted early or completed absentee ballots.

e-mail: jaskar@desnews.com