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Daily Herald, October 17, 2008
Joe Pyrah On Columbus Day, Bryan Thompson was in the county building with a dozen temporary workers processing new voter registrations.
Walking through the lobby, the county clerk spotted someone at the door -- locked for the holiday -- and opened it up out of pity. It was a woman coming to register to vote.
An hour (and a dozen new registrations later) he got the door locked again as the crowds finally thinned.
"No good deed goes unpunished," says Thompson.
If you haven't registered to vote, you're about out of time.
Monday at 5 p.m. is the deadline to do it in person at the county building. The mail-in deadline has long since passed.
The number of new voters is in the tens of thousands, Thompson said, including 4,600 registrations that came in from voter drives at Utah Valley University and Brigham Young University. Most of UVU's 3,488 registrations came during the three weeks tables were set up around campus with life-size cutouts of the presidential candidates displayed, according to the university. Other tactics included dorm storming, handing out UVOTE T-shirts and bringing a live "Vote Goat" on campus.
The numbers put UVU on top of the state's universities for new voter registrations.
Thompson says that the new voters are roughly equal across the board, though he said he's seeing "quite a few Democrats." Utah County is often considered the most Republican county in the country. Nearly every elected partisan office in the county -- from county to federal positions -- is held by Republicans. He said a fair number of people have come in wanting to switch parties, though he didn't immediately have numbers showing who was going where.
Beat the rushWith all the new voters and the typical high interest because of the presidential campaign, county clerks are expecting high turnout.
Thompson says it could be 80-85 percent, but preparations are for 90 percent. That's going to mean long lines at peak hours. If you're not interested in standing around on Nov. 4, you've got a couple of options:
• Go during the off-peak hours. That's between 8 and 11 a.m. and between 1 and 4 p.m. Also, state law says you have up to two hours during the work day to vote as long as you arrange it in advance with your employer. (Your boss can't dock your pay, either.)
• Don't forget early voting. Beginning Tuesday, there will be five locations across the valley where you can vote ahead of the general election. Thompson would prefer a huge turnout for early voting to ease potential kinks on Nov. 4.
"I would love to see 15-20 percent early vote," he said.
DEADLINE
Monday at 5 p.m. is the deadline to register to vote. You have to do so in person at the County Administration Building, 100 E. Center St., Provo.
If you've moved within the state but haven't updated your voter information, you can vote by provisional ballot. Bring two forms of identification that include an address, such as a utility bill.
EARLY VOTING
Weekdays from Tuesday through Oct. 31 at the locations and times listed below.
• Utah Community Credit Union
1364 N. Commerce Drive, Saratoga Springs
1-5 p.m.
• American Fork Library
64 S. 100 East, American Fork
3-7 p.m. (3-5 p.m. on Oct. 31)
• Utah Valley University, Sorensen Student Center
UVUSA Office (SC105), 800 W. University Parkway, Orem
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Utah County Administration Building
100 E. Center St., Room LL900, Provo
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Spanish Fork National Guard Armory
2801 N. Main St., Spanish Fork
3-7 p.m. (3-5 p.m. Oct. 31) |
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