Utah County primary voters won't get 'I voted' stickers with mail

CD2 SPECIAL ELECTION

Aug 24, 2023, 7:30 PM | Updated: 8:27 pm

Before (L) and after (R) photos of the Primary Election ballots sent to Utah County voters. (Lindsay Aerts, KSL NewsRadio)

(Lindsay Aerts, KSL NewsRadio)

BY LINDSAY AERTS

KSLNewsRadio

PROVO, Utah — Utah County voters who have a primary election on Sept. 5th, won’t have those “I voted” stickers in their mail-in ballots.

Utah County’s Clerk, Aaron Davidson told KSL NewsRadio that they printed the election inserts, which include the sticker, before the dates of the election changed. He chose to reprint the inserts without the stickers to save money.

“I did not feel that it was justifiable to charge the taxpayer to print those stickers twice,” he said.

pic.twitter.com/9Ndu9h58Tm

— Utah County Elections (@UtahCoElections) August 22, 2023

Davidson provided a picture showing the stickers are placed on an insert that also has directions for returning ballots. Those include election dates on them.

Before (L) and after (R) photos of the Primary Election ballots sent to Utah County voters. (Aaron Davidson, Utah County Clerk)

He said the inserts with the stickers were printed well in advance of the upcoming primary election because the printers like as much lead time as possible for materials that can be printed before ballots.

“All of that material was already printed and ready to go [before the dates changed], and we had to throw it all away,” Davidson said.

News of Stewart’s resignation was first made public on May 30, 2023.

Governor Spencer Cox announced the dates of the new election on June 7, leaving counties in limbo during that week.

Davidson said he couldn’t justify printing the inserts with the stickers again.

“It was a conscious fiscal decision,” he said. “I would have had to charge the taxpayers to do that all over again — to print the stickers and put them back on the new insert,” he said.

He estimates it would have cost between $30,000 and $35,000.

If you want an “I voted” sticker, you will be able to go get one. They’re available at in-person polling places. You can also get one at your city hall if your city has an election.

Davidson was asked what he wanted voters to know if they were frustrated by this.

“Go vote in person on election day…or at least go to the polling station to pick up your sticker if you really want your sticker,” Davidson said.

He said they sent individual rolls of around 10 thousand total stickers to the cities and polling places to distribute them.

The cities in Utah County with a primary election are Provo, American Fork, Orem, Spanish Fork, Eagle Mountain, Pleasant Grove, Springville, Cedar Fort, and Lehi.

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