Less than three weeks remain until the general election, and voters should expect to see ballots arriving in their mailboxes soon.The Summit County Clerk’s Office sent out envelopes to active voters on Tuesday, 21 days before the election, per Utah state law. Ballots could start showing up as soon as Friday.Voters can return their ballot by mail as long as it’s postmarked one day before the election, Nov. 4, or by putting it in one of several drop box locations throughout Summit County by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Ballot drop boxes are located at the Summit County Courthouse in Coalville, the Park City Library, the Quinn’s Health Department, The Market at Park City, the Jeremy Ranch Park and Ride, Oakley City Hall, Henefer Town Hall, Francis City Hall as well as the Coalville, Kamas and Kimball Junction branches of the Summit County Library.Most elections in Utah are conducted by mail, according to Clerk Eve Furse. She said she is committed to maintaining the integrity of the election process, and uses a variety of security and privacy measures to securely and accurately count votes. For example, county election officials compare the signature on a ballot envelope to make sure it matches previous ballots the person has cast as well as their voter registration form. Individuals will be notified if it doesn’t match and a “cure letter” will be mailed to affirm the signature is correct. The ballot is only counted once the affidavit is received, according to the Clerk’s Office.The Summit County Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges earlier this month against four people accused of double voting in the June primary election. In those cases, the individuals received ballots corresponding with their registered party, Republican, and also requested a ballot for the open Democratic primary. The individuals voted in both elections, which is not allowed.“Our systems have multiple security measures to prevent anyone from having multiple votes counted,” Furse said in a statement at the time. “If someone tells you something about voting that doesn’t seem quite right, please reach out to our office or the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to verify. Please be aware that there is a lot of misinformation out there.” The votes were not counted twice because of the voting machines in the Clerk’s Office. The system keeps track of who has already voted and dispatches an alert if a name appears twice. The Clerk’s Office performed its logic and accuracy test of the automatic tabulating equipment that will be used in the 2024 election last week. It was open to the public and ran smoothly.Voting can also be done in person. Early voting is available for Summit County voters at the Summit County Courthouse from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31; Friday, Nov. 1; and Monday, Nov. 4; as well as from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2. The Kimball Junction branch of the Summit County Library will also be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. that Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday for early voting.Election Day voting is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Coalville City Hall, Park City Hall, and the Kamas and Kimball Junction branches of the Summit County Library.Furse anticipates there will be around 90% voter turnout in the general election. The vast majority of ballots are submitted by mail and around 5% of votes are cast the day of or in person a few days before.People who have not voted since the last presidential election in 2020 or responded to requests from the Clerk’s Office to verify their status could be marked as inactive, meaning they may not automatically receive a ballot by mail.Summit County residents have until 5 p.m. on Oct. 25, 11 days before the election, to register to vote in time to receive a mail-in ballot. Ballots will be sent out until about Oct. 28 to guarantee they arrive in time for Election Day.There are several important issues on the ballot this year including the elections for president, U.S. House and Senate, Utah governor, Summit County Council, the 0.5% emergency services sales tax, the $114 million North Summit School District bond and proposed constitutional amendments. Please call 435-336-3040 or email [email protected] for additional information about voting.The post General election ballots arriving soon appeared first on Park Record.