Swensen to be honored for balloting improvements

SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen is the 2010 Eleanor Roosevelt Award recipient from the Utah State Democratic Party.

Swensen coordinated and established several successful programs to make voter registration more convenient for residents in Salt Lake County. She proposed and successfully lobbied for the passage of HB488, "Emergency Absentee Ballots," which allows votes to be cast by people who have been hospitalized or confined to a care facility after absentee ballots have been mailed out.

Swensen was selected by a committee of past award winners from nominations submitted by members of the public and party activists.

The award will be presented at the 17th annual Eleanor Roosevelt Award luncheon on Oct. 7 in the Salt Lake City Downtown Marriott.

— Amy K. Stewart