By midafternoon, state elections chief Amy Naccarato predicted a 78 percent turnout - lower than 1992's record of 81 percent but higher than usual. Also by midafternoon, the elections office had received an unusually high number of complaints about voting irregularities, although Naccarato attributed that to the large turnout as much as the fever pitch of the election itself.
Tuesday morning, Barry Keate was late for work and at the back of a line of about 20 people at Hawthorne Elementary, his polling place for 16 years. But he didn't mind. "Usually I can walk right in and vote," he said. "It's very encouraging so many people are turning out."
In line with him was Mary Pierre Timothy, a naturalized citizen who noted that in her native France, elections are held on Sunday and everyone votes unless they are too ill to do so. "It's about time that people get interested in what's going on in this country instead of sitting in front of the television," she said, surveying the crowd.
Sharon Ostler, a 71-year-old election judge, said turnout at her Avenues precinct was unprecedented. By 11:15 a.m., 256 people had voted. "In this precinct, we've never had more than 300 people vote. It's awesome," she said.
Voters at the Multi-Ethnic Seniors High Rise near downtown Salt Lake City got some sugar with their punch cards, choosing either a red or blue Krispy Kreme doughnut to indicate their choice for president. Ninety minutes after the polls opened at 7 a.m., there were more blue-glazed doughnuts left than red.
It was Nancy Chantry's first year as a poll judge, and she was pleased to see 45 people lined up Tuesday by 7 a.m. at the door of the Sonrise Baptist Church in West Valley City. "I had a gentleman here at quarter to six, ready to vote," Chantry said. "He walked in the door right behind me."
But those who queued up in the freezing dark Tuesday weren't the earliest of early birds. The state's first year of early voting with no-questions-asked absentee ballots was a big hit, with an estimated 40,000 citizens casting ballots at county buildings around the state during the absentee ballot period.
Salt Lake City residents Stacey Utley and Paul Bernhardt voted at the county building Saturday so they would be free to help with voter turnout Tuesday. And Holladay resident Shirley Fuelner said she wanted to avoid Tuesday's lines. "This was a snap," she said.
In Moab, voters waited patiently in long lines and expressed relief Election Day finally had arrived.
"I'm so damned tickled that it's over," said lifelong Grand County resident Rodney Dalton. "It's been the ugliest election I've ever heard of."
Logan residents Gina Brin, 27, and her husband, Robert, 36, voted for the first time. Gina Brin said she was surprised at how "dirty" the campaigns were, but thought the politicking might have gotten more people involved. "I can't complain about the government if I don't take part in the process," she said.
The process appeared to go foul in Millard County. "It's been a nasty day," said County Clerk Norma Brunson.
On the west side of the county, in the Delta area, sheriff's deputies confiscated three of the plastic voting boxes that hold the punch ballots after reports that Republican write-in candidate for county commissioner Fred Tolbert's name was stuck on the ballot illegally.
Kathy Walker, a GOP candidate, said that when she went to vote for herself, she found Tolbert's name over hers, with the stylus already stuck in the punch. She reported the irregularity to election judges and to Sheriff Ed Phillips.
Brunson said the poll judges were watching the situation closely, and decided to remove the plastic Vote-O-Matic boxes from the booths each time someone voted. That slowed the lines considerably, she said.
"The judges have worked themselves to death. They have done the best they can," Brunson said.
The sheriff's deputies wanted to confiscate more of the Vote-O-Matic boxes, "but you can't stop the election," she said. She declined to say whether her office was going to pursue any legal action against whoever was attempting the fraud.
Another obstacle was discovered about 9 a.m. in Pleasant View, where some residents trying to vote for Democrat Jim Hasenyager in the District 19 Senate race were surprised when their stylus wouldn't poke a hole in the punch card like it was supposed to.
Naccarato said plastic plugs inserted in the holes to prevent inadvertent incorrect votes had been left erroneously in the Vote-O-Matics in two booths, which were removed from the polling place.
"We love it when people point those things out to the judges because we can fix them," she said.
Other irregularities reported were the usual run of complaints about electioneering too close to the polls and judges who didn't show up on time, Naccarato said. In Washington County, some Republican poll watchers were asked to remove their GOP lanyards.
Provo voter Joy Smith said she was ejected from a polling place for wearing a "Drop Bush, Not Bombs" T-shirt and a Kerry campaign pin. Smith said she objected, demanding to know why she couldn't enter the voting area when an election judge pushed her out the door.
After taking off the T-shirt and pin, she returned to vote with her frightened 5-year-old daughter in tow. "I felt very intimidated and threatened," she said. "If I wasn't a very strong person, I wouldn't have come back."
Scattered power outages in Tooele, Salt Lake, Weber and Utah counties darkened some polling places. At the Riverton Library, ambient light kept long lines of voters moving. "I'm glad we're not hooked up to any computers for our voting system," said library worker Rosemary Healey.
Actually, said Naccarato, the computer systems would have been better in dark conditions. "They have battery backup and they illuminate," she said.
---
Tribune reporters Shinika Sykes, Heather May, Sean Means and Rosemary Winters contributed to this report, as did Tribune correspondents Arrin Newton Brunson and Lisa Church.
