PROVO — Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson warned late Tuesday that initial Utah polling results may not be available until 10 p.m.
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 closed 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 and said in another post: “Gonna be a long night folks.”
At 8:32 p.m. she said it is “looking like around 10:00. I know everyone wants results, including me! Thanks for your patience, Utah!”
Meanwhile, 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: Dan Rascon
This story may be updated.
