Vote early: You won't have to stand in line on Election Day

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

You may want to vote early this year. The good news is you can. But if you are a first-time voter or you have just moved to Salt Lake County, you must be registered by Oct. 10 to take advantage of early voting. You may register by mail if the form is postmarked no later than Oct. 10.

You may want to vote early because casting a ballot in the general election Nov. 7 will be a learning experience for most voters. Touch-screen voting machines will replace the familiar punch-card ballots in Salt Lake County and across Utah. Because voters won't be familiar with the machines, it may take them longer to cast a ballot. That could mean long lines at the polls, particularly at peak times before and after work.

In Salt Lake County, there also will be fewer voting machines at the polls. Under the old system, there were about 5,000 punch-card voting machines. Because of budget limitations, there will be only about 3,000 touch-screen machines.

That is why Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen is encouraging people to vote early. It may be more convenient, and people who vote early will reduce the demand at the polls on Election Day.

Because the touch-screen machines are programmed to provide every ballot, any early-bird voter may cast a ballot at any early voting location.

Early voting will begin at the County Clerk's Office, 2001 S. State, on Oct. 10 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.

Early voting also will be available Oct. 24-27 from 2-7 p.m. at five satellite locations around Salt Lake County. Those include Murray City Hall, 5025 S. State St.; Riverton City Hall, 12830 S. Redwood Rd.; Taylorsville City Hall, 2600 W. Taylorsville Blvd. (5400 South); Bingham Creek Library, 4834 W. 9000 South; and Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center, 7500 S. 2700 East.

Early voting also will be available Oct. 30-Nov. 2 at five other satellite locations.

But in order to participate in early voting, people who have just reached the voting age of 18 or who have recently moved into Salt Lake County must register by Oct. 10. The forms are available at the County Clerk's Office and Web site, http://www.clerk.slco.org, at public libraries and post offices, and on Page 47 of the Government Pages of the new DEX phone directory.