CEDAR CITY — After a delay of more than 10 days, Iron County’s election ballots started arriving in voters’ mailboxes on Saturday.
In an email message sent by Iron County Clerk Jon Whittaker on Friday afternoon, Whittaker apologized for the delay, which he said was due to mail sorting and transportation issues.
The county clerk’s office sent their database to the printer on Sept. 19, Whittaker said. Almost four weeks later, on Oct. 14, the printer then sent the county’s approximately 28,000 mail-in ballots in their envelopes to a sorting facility in Las Vegas.
However, instead of making their way from there to Iron County mailboxes by the target date of Oct. 18, the ballots were instead sent to a different sorting facility in Dallas, after which they were shipped via truck to the main post office in Salt Lake City, according to the emailed statement.
“There are several aspects of what happened that are inappropriate,” the statement added. “We will no longer employ that printer.”
Speaking to Cedar City News via telephone on Sunday, Whittaker said, “Basically, instead of being the nice, expedited segregated mail that it’s supposed to be, it got mixed into a giant batch of mail.”
Nevertheless, Whittaker commended the U.S. Postal Service officials for their assistance in dealing with the situation.
“We’re really grateful for our partners at the postal service,” he said. “They’ve been just great.”
Whittaker said that even with the delay, Iron County still falls within the statutory requirement to mail out ballots between no earlier than 21 and no later than seven days before the election (in this case, as Election Day is Nov. 8, the target window is between Oct. 18 and Tuesday, Nov. 1).
“We will be able to meet the statute, but we are extremely frustrated and disappointed that we were not able to get ballots out earlier for this important election,” Whittaker said.
Whittaker told Cedar City News that he and many other voters did in fact receive their ballots in the mail on Saturday.
“We received word that the ballots were in Provo on Friday afternoon,” he said. “They committed to get them to the Cedar City post office by 4 a.m. Saturday.”
Anyone who didn’t get their ballot in the mail on Saturday will probably receive it by Monday or Tuesday, he said.
“It might take another day or two for them to filter in,” he said.
Those who haven’t received their ballot by Tuesday, Nov. 1, are encouraged to take advantage of the expanded early in-person voting opportunities that are available at both the Iron County Courthouse in Parowan and the Cedar City municipal offices in downtown Cedar City.
The Parowan courthouse (68 S. 100 East), also home to the Iron County Clerk’s office, opened to early voting on Friday and will be open every day until Election Day, Whittaker said. That location’s extended hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 3-8 p.m. on Sunday.
Meanwhile, inside the City Council chambers at 10 N. Main Street in Cedar City, in-person early voter will be available Tuesday, Nov. 1 through Saturday, Nov. 4, starting at 8 a.m. each day and ending at either 5 p.m. (Tuesday and Wednesday) or 6 p.m. (Thursday and Friday). Additionally, there will be early voting at that location on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
On Tuesday, Whittaker sent out another email reminding people of the early voting opportunities in Parowan and Cedar City, and added Enoch City offices (900 E. Midvalley Road) as a third early voting location. Voters can fill out their ballots in Enoch from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2 and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the following two days, Nov. 3-4.
Whittaker sent out a third emergency notice email on Thursday announcing that early voting opportunities have been added at four other locations within the county:
- Brian Head (town hall): Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
- Summit (55 E. Main): Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Kanarraville (town hall): Monday from 9 a.m. to noon.
- Beryl Junction (Dixie Power office): Monday from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Whittaker said because the ballots are coded and tracked, it doesn’t matter which method you use to vote.
“If you come in and vote in person and then later get a ballot in the mail, you should just destroy that ballot,” he noted. “Just tear it in half and throw it away or throw it in the fireplace or whatever.”
“If someone were to try and vote that ballot, each ballot has its own code that’s associated with a specific voter,” he added. “So if that voter has already voted in person, we’re not going to accept that ballot.”
“Technically, it’s against the law to try to vote twice,” he said, adding that signatures are verified on every ballot. “We do check 100% of the signatures.”
“If we could have 10,000 or even 15,000 ballots checked in by Friday afternoon, that helps take the pressure off of Election Day,” he added.
“Again, we sincerely apologize for any challenges this situation has caused,” Whittaker said as he encouraged voters to promptly return their ballots via postal mail or by taking them to one of the following officially designated dropbox locations (no postage needed if using a dropbox):
- Iron County Courthouse, 68 S. 100 East, Parowan.
- Cedar City Offices, 10 N. Main, Cedar City.
- Enoch City Offices, 900 E. Midvalley Road, Enoch.
- Paragonah Town Hall, 44 N. 100 East, Paragonah.
- Kanarraville Town Hall, 40 S. Main, Kanarraville.
- Parowan City Offices, 35 E. 100 North, Parowan.
- Brian Head Town Hall, 56 N. Highway 143, Brian Head.
- Dixie Power offices, 71 E. Highway 56, Beryl.
Anyone with questions or concerns is asked to contact the Iron County Clerk’s Office by either calling 435-477-8340 during office hours or by emailing [email protected].
Updated Nov. 1, 2 p.m. to include details about a third early voting location at Enoch City offices.
Updated Nov. 4, 10:30 a.m. to include information about additional early voting opportunities on Saturday and Monday, at multiple locations.
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