If you can stand the thought of looking in your mailbox for one more piece of election-related paper, the one that really matters should have arrived within the last few days.
Don’t miss it.
Utah registered voters automatically receive their official ballots in the mail. County clerks across the state dispatched them beginning last Tuesday.
Among the many great things about Utah’s universal mail balloting is that it gives voters plenty of time to look at the list of candidates and issues, do a little research and thoughtfully exercise their franchise. It’s so much better than stepping into that little voting booth, perhaps with a long line in front of you and behind, and, like a lot of normal people, being confronted with office-seekers and state and local questions you never heard of.
The state, the candidates and the parties have their own information for you to consider. And you should. But may we humbly recommend that you also consider The Salt Lake Tribune’s comprehensive 2026 Voter Guide.
Tribune staff reached out to more than 240 candidates in almost 100 contested races for Congress, the Utah Legislature, State School Board and Salt Lake County Council and presented them with questions about the issues that, voters have told us, mean the most to you this year.
There’s also information about two proposed state constitutional amendments and a slate of state judges who are up for retention (or not) this year.
The Tribune Voter Guide allows each voter to enter their street address and figure out what congressional, legislative and school board districts they will cast their ballots in. Then follow links to information about each of them.
There are also routes to check to make sure you are properly registered, to find out where you can go to cast a ballot in person, if that’s your vibe, or deliver yours to an official drop box. You can also track your ballot online after you’ve dropped it in a box or commended its care to the United States Postal Service.
If you aren’t registered to vote, you have until Oct. 23 to register online. Or you can register in person at a polling place.
To count, ballots must have found their way to your county clerk’s office by the end of the day on Election Day, Nov. 3. If time is running out, it would be better to bring your ballot to a dropbox, polling place or county clerk’s office, rather than trust the mail to move fast enough, or to be immune from White House meddling.
After all the election messaging we have all been bombarded by over the past several weeks, now it is our turn to have our say. Utah’s mail ballot system, and The Tribune’s Voter Guide, give you the time, and the information, to vote intelligently.
Don’t blow it.
Editorials represent the opinions of The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board, which operates independently from the newsroom.