Utah didn't have worst vote turnout

Throughout any given year, I regularly meet with the best and brightest minds in Utah. Perhaps the number one benefit of my job is having that opportunity to join the young schoolchildren of Utah in discussing various issues and answering their questions. Last month, at Middle Canyon Elementary School in Tooele, the kids asked me a range of questions from, "Have you ever flown in Air Force One?" to "What are you and the governor going to do about the economy?" I did my best not to bore the children with my responses and, like I do at every school, I took the opportunity to include a civics lesson somewhere along the way.

At the end of our meeting, I asked each of them to join me in taking a pledge to vote in every election once they turn 18. Without hesitation, each one of these future leaders enthusiastically raised their hands to take that pledge. How refreshing!

The right to vote and the actual practice of voting has always been something that I have cherished. As the chief election officer for Utah, I hold a unique perspective on the process and what it means to our state. News accounts about voting do well to illustrate this important process and the alarming participation trends.

I appreciated the article by Lee Davidson about voting turnout being down but have a concern about the statistical model used by the academics in Virginia whose research was the basis for the story. My chief worry centers on their comparison of votes cast as a percentage of "eligible voting-age population."

In my office, for instance, we measure voter turnout as a percentage of the number of voters who cast ballots against all registered voters. Secondarily, the assertion that Utah had the "nation's worst voter turnout in the 2006 elections" lacks any statistical support and is absolutely false.

No matter what numbers are used, any voter turnout story on Election Day of 2008 could potentially send an improper message that the rest of the country is more civically engaged than those of us in Utah. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In 2008, 67.80 percent of registered voters in Utah cast a ballot. In no way is that the highest turnout rate we have ever had in our state and, the truth is, we can and should be doing better. However, 971,185 ballots cast is nothing to sniff at, either.