The Beehive State is racking up a record turnout for early voting, which revved up last week and continues this week at polling locations in all 29 counties.
In 2006, the first year Utah offered early ballots, 83,000 voters participated.
"We passed that on the beginning of the third day this year," said Joe Demma, Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's chief of staff. "These are huge numbers, and we're excited by them."
Demma expects the number of early bird voters to reach 250,000 by week's end, which would mean close to 20 percent of Utah's 1.5 million registered voters cast their ballots before Nov. 4.
Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen predicts 100,000 people could vote early in Utah's most-populous county. More than 50,000, she said, already have voted.
"Everyone that votes early and by mail [is] going to help us with those line concerns on Election Day," she said. The county has processed more than 51,000 vote-by-mail requests.
Swensen urges early voters discouraged by lines to go to another early-balloting location: Salt Lake County residents can vote at any of 16 spots, from Riverton City Hall to Salt Lake City's Northwest Multipurpose Center.
Voting also has been brisk in Davis, Weber and Washington counties, Demma said. All three have topped Utah County, the state's second-most-populous county, for early-bird turnout. There have been 10,600 early votes in Utah County, 22,700 in Davis, 12,200 in Weber and 11,200 in Washington.
At the University of Utah's Olpin Union Building on Monday, students, professors and other voters queued up for a 20-minute wait at lunchtime. Outside, a large hand-painted sign reminded passers-by "U have 7 days to vote."
Kim Korinek, a sociology professor, cast an early vote for Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama.
"I'm ready for a change from the way things have been going," she said. Republican John McCain "likes to market himself as a maverick, but I think his record suggests otherwise."
Twenty-year-old student Alisabeth McQueen of Salt Lake City also was motivated to vote early for Obama.
"I wanted to get my voice out there. I'm really excited about Obama," she said, "It's a really big election."
Brett Steigerwaldt, a 22-year-old student, lined up to vote early as well - even though he hadn't made up his mind yet in the presidential chase. He griped that both presidential elections he has been able to vote in so far offered major-party candidates who "suck."
"You're picking the least bad one," he lamented.
So this time, Steigerwaldt said he probably would go for Libertarian Bob Barr.
