Unofficial Election Results

Unofficial Election Night Results for
The Town of Leeds
Municipal Election   November 3, 2009



MayorNumber of Votes
Hyrum D. Lefler 185
Elliott Sheltman 130
Town Councilmember
Frank B. Lojko 212
Angela Rohr 169
Dick Higgins 113
Peter Aurigemma96
.
Number of Registered Voters 452
Number of Ballots Cast 316
Percentage Voter Turn-out 70%



Springdale
Mayor:
Pat Cluff170
Write-Ins12

Council:
John Callahan129
Colin Dockstader160
Jonathan Zambella104
Write-ins9



TOWN OF ROCKVILLE MUNICIPAL ELECTION OF
NOVEMBER 3, 2009

Mayor – Four-year term
*Allen G Brown 82
John B Arnold 48

Two Council Members – Four-year terms
*Jeff Ballard 121
*Pamela Leach 92
John Farrand 39

*Highest Number of Votes Cast

FINAL RESULTS WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER THE CANVASS OF ELECTION RESULTS BY THE TOWN COUNCIL ON NOVEMBER 11, 2009.




Virgin Town

Un-Canvassed Election Results – November 3, 2009 Municipal Election:

Mayor (Four year term):
John Grow 95
Larry Amodt 89
Other Write-In 1
Total Votes 185

Town Council (Four year term):
Luke Stevens 153
P. Lee Ballard 137
Other Write-Ins 25
Total Votes 315

Ballots Cast:
By-Mail 185
Provisional 1
Total Ballots 186

Voting By Mail

Several years ago, there was a presidential election fiasco. Voters throughout America, and especially in Florida, were disenfranchised or not allowed to vote at all.

The ensuing confusion and delay of an outcome resulted in federal legislation called the HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT, known as HAVA.

One of the requirements of HAVA was that states had to determine more reliable methods of voting. Utah chose to use electronic voting machines. Because those machines are expensive to purchase and maintain, Utah State Legislature provided a way for communities with less than 500 registered voters per precinct to vote with absentee ballots instead. 

Many small towns can’t afford to vote electronically, and the cost to counties to provide voting machines to small precincts is huge.  For example, it costs the county nearly $13 per vote to provide electronic voting machines to Rockville voters while a mail-in vote costs less than $3 per vote. The difference is less dramatic in larger towns, but it is still substantially different: never less than double the cost.  The savings to taxpayers is significant.

Strangely, communities are not allowed to determine whether they are vote-by-mail precincts. That decision can be made only by county commissions. There are many precincts in Utah that vote by mail, but this is the first year it has been done in Washington County.

Beside cost savings, there are other benefits to voting by mail:
  • •   No early voting costs. Early voting requires poll workers to be available at least four hours a day for two weeks before the election.
  • •   No Early Voting Costs, Staff or ID Issues. If a small town decides to use absentee ballots for early voting, when a voter comes in person to vote or pick up a ballot, the staff must stop everything they are doing and give the voter their undivided attention. Most small town staffs wear a lot of hats – it’s unrealistic to expect them to let the phones ring unanswered, for example, which they have to do if they are assisting a voter. The 2008 legislature enacted a law which requires voters that go to a polling place to provide identification that proves they live where they are registered. The potential for delays and disenfranchisement at the polling place increased dramatically. That law doesn’t apply to absentee voters. 
  • •   Voter turnout higher. It has been proven in our state and many other states that voting by mail is popular: People really vote.  Most vote-by-mail elections have substantially higher returns – 80% to 90% is not uncommon.

For these reasons, Springdale, Rockville, Virgin, Leeds and Apple Valley approached the Washington County Commission to ask for vote-by-mail status.  The Commission granted them permission to run the 2009 elections by mail, but withheld permission for subsequent years. Their reasoning? They think people who vote by mail are less informed than people who go to the polls. We respectfully disagree, but this blog was created to provide as much information to our voters as possible. 

We’re hopeful that voters will find voting by mail convenient and easy – resulting in the kind of turnout that will help us persuade the Commission to let us vote by mail every year. 

Please research your candidates, then VOTE.