The Summit County Clerk’s Office received nearly 20,000 ballots as of Monday, the day before the general election.There was an almost 200% increase in the ballots received during the 10-day period leading up to Election Day. Summit County Clerk Eve Furse reported 19,983 voted ballots had been collected on Nov. 4, compared to 6,734 ballots received on Oct. 25 after ballots were mailed out to voters Oct. 15.The Clerk’s Office had counted 9,853 ballots with 7,292 in process, according to the ballot statistics from Monday. Just under 3,000 ballots had not been processed. Meanwhile, 347 were rejected and curable while 34 were rejected and not curable.Most rejections are because of minor errors, which is why voters are allowed to correct the mistake and ensure their vote is counted. Ballots could be rejected if they aren’t signed or if the signature doesn’t match the one on file. Election officials notify voters if their ballot is rejected.“Our systems have multiple security measures to prevent anyone from having multiple votes counted,” Furse said in a statement. “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.” Clerk’s Office staffers have been processing ballots as needed since late October. This could include verifying signatures, opening ballots, scanning ballots, adjudicating ballots, replicating damaged or defective ballots and tabulating votes. It could take staff until Nov. 19, though they’ll likely finish before that.An estimated 56% of ballots had been returned in Summit County as of Tuesday morning, according to Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. That was average with Duchesne County nearing 52%, Wasatch County at an estimated 53%, and Salt Lake County around 54%. Statewide voter turnout was around 53% as of Tuesday morning. A total of 952,157 ballots had been processed. The majority, 915,107, were cast by mail while 37,050 voted in person.Voters had until 8 p.m. on Tuesday to cast their vote by dropping their ballot at the Clerk’s Office, polling location or drop box. They could also vote in person on Election Day.Ballots had to be postmarked on or before Nov. 4 to be counted by mail. Voters can track their ballot through the BallotTrax program.There were several important issues on the ballot this year, including the elections for president, U.S. House and Senate, Utah governor, Summit County Council, board of education, Prop 18 which is the 0.5% emergency services sales tax, the $114 million North Summit School District bond and proposed constitutional amendments. Furse expected high participation in the general election. Voter turnout was 92% during the 2020 presidential election and 86% during the one in 2016.Call 435-336-3040 or email [email protected] for additional information about voting.The post Summit County sees increase in ballots ahead of Election Day appeared first on Park Record.