Utah County election officials are printing emergency ballots after a printer problem

PROVO, Utah — Just before polls closed at 8 p.m., Utah's county clerk had to take alternative measures to print ballots because the county's existing printers used a type of toner that was no longer available.

“We thought we could get through this voting order, but apparently we didn't because the turnout was so great,” Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson told KSL NewsRadio.

Emergency elections

Davidson says there are measures in place when such issues arise.

“There is such a thing as an emergency election,” Davidson said. “So we print out some emergency ballots and take them there (polling places). They require a lot more tracking and a lot more work after the fact, so we add a lot of work to ourselves. But that’s exactly why they exist, for this specific purpose,” he said.

Davidson told KSL TV that every location that needed emergency ballots had received them.

“Everyone who called us, we sent these to them,” he said. “It's probably delayed the process a little bit…So people are probably going to wait a little bit longer. “But we're actively making sure everyone has what they need.”

Managers at a polling place in Payson, Utah, said they immediately called Utah County officials when they realized they had run out of ink. At this point, around 70 people were still waiting to cast their votes.

Tiffany Harding, Payson City elections director, told KSL NewsRadio that things were tense for a moment, but the issue was quickly resolved.

“We were a little nervous… We were trying to transfer toner from one of the printers to the other just to do everything we could to accommodate the voters,” she said.

Harding said the quick work of her election officials averted a crisis and no one was turned away.

High voter turnout

Davidson said part of the problem on Election Day could be due to the fact that a large number of people registered to vote on Election Day.

“Utah is one of the few states that does same-day registrations. Maybe we need to… find a better way to get people to sign up early. If you allow people to hesitate, they will hesitate,” he said.

Asked whether he felt responsible for the high turnout of in-person voters, Davidson said: “I will not refuse this responsibility. Yes, I encouraged in-person voting. I promoted it. It hasn't caught on as of this election. It's like they were fasting…now they want to feast.

“What it shows is that there is a lot of interest in voting in person. Unfortunately, we underestimated that this festival would take place.”

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