Election Day in Southern Utah: Know where to vote and what your rights are

Stock image | Photo by elinedesignservices/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE  While many people have already mailed in their ballots for the midterm election, Election Day polling locations are still available in Washington and Iron counties for those who favor a more traditional method of voting.

Thanks to legislation passed earlier this year, individuals who have not yet registered to vote can take part in same-day registration and will be given a provisional ballot.

Read now: You can now register to vote on election day in Utah. Are counties prepared for the change?

An overview of Election Day voter rights follows the list of polling locations below. Except where noted below, polling locations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For other Election 2018 stories, click here.


Polling locations

Washington County

A voter casts her ballot on a voting machine during the GOP primary elections, St. George, Utah, June 26, 2018 | File photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

St. George

  • Dixie Convention Center | 1835 Convention Center Drive, St. George.
  • Washington County Administration Building | 197 E. Tabernacle St., St. George.
  • South Mountain Community Church | 3158 E. 2000 South, St. George.

Santa Clara

  • Santa Clara Branch Library | 1099 Lava Flow Drive, St George,

Hurricane

  • Hurricane City Office | 147 N. 870 West, Hurricane.

Washington City

  • Washington City Library | 220 N. 300 East, Washington City.

Iron County

Cedar City

  • Cedar City Council Chambers | 10 North Main St., Cedar City

Enoch

  • Enoch City Offices | 900 E. Midvalley Road, Enoch.

Parowan

  • Iron County Courthouse | 68 S. 100 East, Parowan.

Kanarraville

  • Ballot box drop-off location only during business hours, 40 S. Main, Kanarraville.

Paragonah

  • Ballot box drop-off location only during business hours at 80 W. 100 North, Paragonah.

Voter rights

Valid forms of identification

Title 20A of the Utah code covers the laws governing voting. For the intrepid soul who wants to read the code in depth, click here. Here are some highlights:

St. George residents voting early in the general election, St. George, Utah, Nov. 4, 2016 | File photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Utah requires valid identification to vote. The most common form of ID is a driver’s license, but if you don’t have one, the following forms of ID are also acceptable:

  • A valid ID card issued by the state or a branch, department or agency of the U.S.
  • A valid Utah permit to carry a concealed weapon.
  • A valid U.S. passport.
  • A valid tribal ID card, whether or not the card includes a photograph of the voter.

Two forms of ID that display the voter’s name and provide evidence that the voter resides in the voting precinct are also acceptable. Additional forms of ID are available, which can be reviewed here.

Worker voting rights

  • State law allows an employee the right to take two hours off work to vote. An employer who violates this right is subject to a class B misdemeanor.
  • No employer/corporation may influence an employee’s vote or restrain an employee from voting in any way. Parties guilty of this act are subject to a class B misdemeanor.
  • No person may intimidate or unduly influence another to vote, or not to vote, under any threats or infliction of force, restraint, violence, injury, damage, harm or loss. Persons or groups engaged in this behavior will be subject to a class B misdemeanor, along with any additional charges that may apply.
A sign points voters to the Washington City Office, Washington City, Aug. 11, 2017 | File photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Challenges to voters and provisional ballots

If your right to vote is challenged for any reason, insist on completing a provisional ballot right there at the polls. The provisional ballot procedure for the poll workers and for you subsequent to completing a provisional ballot is itemized in the election code.

Voters may also wish to review potential challenges to their eligibility at time of voting.

Spoiled ballots

If a voter “spoils” a ballot by making a mistake of some kind – marking the wrong candidate, for example – the voter has the right to obtain a new ballot.

Though the majority of voting is done electronically, mistakes may still occur on provisional ballots. It is completely within a voter’s right to ask for a new ballot if he or she feels the original ballot has been rendered invalid.

During the 2016 general election, Tanya Reid, a Washington County resident who had planned to mail in her ballot, said she marked the wrong name while explaining election issues to one of her children.

Reid went to the county clerk’s office to retrieve a new ballot and was told the machines that scan absentee and provisional ballots work in a way similar to Scantron test forms. If there is “too much carbon” on the form or if it is stained with coffee or another substance, the ballot will not scan properly.

When in doubt as to whether a ballot will scan, get a new one.

Iron County residents vote in primary election, June 28, 2016, Cedar City, Utah | File photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George News / Cedar City News

Still in line when the poll closes? Not a problem

If a voter should happen to be in line to vote at closing time, or arrives at closing, he or she is still eligible to vote at that time under the law.

Prohibited activities at polling locations

  • Electioneering: any oral, printed or written attempt to persuade persons to refrain from voting or to vote for or vote against any candidate or issue.
  • A person may not, within a polling place or in any public area within 150 feet of the building where a polling place is located, engage in elements of electioneering.
  • Engaging in any practice that interferes with the freedom of voters to vote or disrupts the administration of the polling place.
  • A person may not obstruct the doors or entries to a building in which a polling place is located or prevent free access to and from any polling place.

Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

For a complete list of prohibited activities at the polling place, see Utah Code 20A-3-501.

Utah’s full code related to election law can be found on the Utah Legislature website.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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3 Comments

  • Not_So_Much November 5, 2018 at 3:20 pm

    Know who you are voting for. Tim Aalder, registered republican, lives in Utah,is running on the Constitutional Party ticket. Check him out and send a message, Tim Aalder for US Senate.

  • luna November 5, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    Hurricane City Office actually had sign to drop mail-in ballots at box outside Hurricane Library.

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