PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 3, 2019
Salt Lake City, UT – As of this writing, many voters in Garfield County have not received their mail-in ballots to vote in the November 5th municipal election. According to individuals who were in attendance at a recent County Commission meeting, the County Clerk addressed the issue by stating it was an issue with the vendor who printed the ballots. On the County website, it states that there were “shipping complications with the ballots for Escalante and Panguitch City voters.”
“Simply put, the fact that ballots were not sent to voters of Garfield County in a timely and legally-required manner is a sizeable failure,” said Chase Thomas, executive director for Alliance for a Better Utah. “After Utahns have become accustomed to voting by mail-in ballots, any failure in the system is a burden on voters and will inevitably result in people not being able to vote.
“We are working with our community partners in the area to learn more about this unacceptable incident and where the breakdown in the process occurred. If necessary, we will work to hold any responsible government officials or entities responsible and to ensure this does not happen again in the future. State officials, including the Legislature and the Lt. Governor’s Elections Office, should also investigate this issue and take necessary action to ensure this does not happen again in any of our county election systems.”
“We have sent information out to our members in Garfield County about where they can vote in person on Monday or on Election Day. We’ll continue to update our members and followers with any new information. We call on county and state election officials to do all that they can to ensure that voters have all necessary information so that they can exercise their right to vote during these important elections, in addition to doing all they can to increase access to polling locations through the end of Election Day.”
According to the Garfield County Government website and information we’ve gathered:
| For those who live in Panguitch, they can vote for the Panguitch City Council at: |
| Garfield County Courthouse 55 South Main Street, Panguitch, UT 84759 Monday Business Hours: 9am – Noon; 1pm – 5pm Tuesday Voting Hours: 7am – 8pm |
| For those who live in Escalante, they can vote for the Escalante City Council at: |
| Escalante City Office Building 56 N 100 W Escalante, UT 84726 Monday Business Hours: 8am – Noon; 1pm – 4pm Tuesday Voting Hours: 7am – 8pm |
For those who do not live in one of these two cities and have not received their ballot, contact the Garfield County Clerk Office during business hours on Monday at (435) 676-1120 to find a polling center to cast a ballot on Tuesday.
We have also heard unverified reports that issues with mail-in ballots may be occurring in parts of Carbon County. If we have any further information, we will work to update our members and the broader community on how they can ensure their vote is counted on Election Day.
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Alliance for a Better Utah is a nonprofit that holds politicians accountable and advocates for progressive policies that make Utah an even better place. The organization improves the lives of all Utahns through advocacy, transparency, and accountability in Utah politics, policy, and government. More information at www.betterutah.org.