Lawmakers see problems with early voting

State legislators don't appear any hurry to decide whether Utah voters — like those in many other states — should be able to cast ballots for a week or so before Election Day.

Wednesday, a legislative committee heard leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties and county election clerks endorse the idea of "early voting."

But several members of the Government Operations Interim Committee again expressed concerns about letting people vote at neighborhood gathering areas, like malls, before Election Day. Lawmakers also voiced new concerns over an election reform plan first proposed a month ago by Lt. Gov. Olene Walker, the state's chief election officer.

State GOP and Democratic leaders don't have a joint view on such early voting specifically, said Joe Cannon, state Republican chairman. "But we think it is good" overall, he said, mainly because so many other states have it and citizens and public officials alike enjoy it.

He and Meg Holbrook, chairwoman of the Utah Democratic Party, said they do strongly agree that Utah's current absentee ballot provisions should be revised to encourage that form of early voting.

And Sen. Ron Allen, D-Stansbury Park, said he would introduce legislation in the 2004 Legislature that would, at the very least, do away with the requirement that a voter must state an approved reason before getting an absentee ballot.

Four county clerks told committee members that early voting works, that it saves money and encourages more voter turnout.

Nevada, for instance, saw a 39 percent increase in voter turnout in a recent election, one clerk said.

But legislators, at least for now, aren't buying it.

And while they cite several perceived problems with early voting, they return to their belief that it would increase costs of elections — mainly the candidates' cost.

"Costs will go up" with early voting, said Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley. "Incumbents can get more money" through established fund-raising sources, he said. "This harms the challenger."

Looking at Democrat Holbrook, Bigelow said one party more than the other usually has the challengers in legislative races. (Republicans outnumber Democrats two-to-one in the Utah House and Senate.)

That may be, said Holbrook. But early voting "must be overall for the good, most states are doing it and the public is delighted with it."