PROVO — Printer issues at several Utah County polling locations are forcing polling officials to print thousands of emergency ballots, and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson warned of potentially significant delays in reporting preliminary results in Utah.
Henderson, the state’s top election official, on Monday advised county clerks to hold off on releasing early numbers before all voters in line at in-person polling places have been able to cast their ballots. Polling locations close at 8 p.m., but anyone in line before then will still be allowed to vote.
The lieutenant governor on social media warned of delays “of an hour or more” due to long lines at polling places. In an update just after 7 p.m., she added: “1.5-2 hour lines in several counties.”
At 7:30 p.m., she simply said: “Gonna be a long night folks.”
Utah County Election Clerk Aaron Davidson said the polling locations at Highland and Pleasant Grove were both experiencing printer trouble caused by older printers running out of toner on Tuesday evening.
It was later confirmed that polling places in Payson and Orem were also experiencing issues with printing.
As far as officials were aware, nobody had been turned away from voting, Davidson said. He said the reason for the problem is that the polling locations received thousands more voters than they anticipated.
“I’m feeling stressed,” Davidson said.
Officials have had to print thousands of emergency ballots at the Utah County Polling Processing Center in Provo, then bring them to the two polling locations that were affected.
Contributing: Bridger Beal-Cvetko
This story may be updated.
