LOGAN — “It was crazy, to say the least.”
More than 7,000 people voted in-person at the Cache County Event Center on Election Day. That’s a couple thousand more than they planned.
“We had a lot of people show up in person,” Behm said. “A lot of new registrations. We didn’t expect that many.”
In the 2020 election, Cache County had a 92 percent turnout, with about 5,000 voting in person.
Voters waited in lines wrapping around the property, which left some waiting an hour and a half to cast their ballot, even after doors closed at 8 p.m.
“The long lines are something you can’t really predict,” he said.
The county plans to add up to three more in-person voting centers for future elections.
The county has until November 15 to finish counting ballots, but Behm expects it to take only a couple of days.
In February, state officials issued a scathing audit on the county’s mishandling of last fall’s election. It lead to three employees being put on administrative leave, and an election supervisor facing criminal charges. A month later Clerk/Auditor David Benson resigned.
Behm, who filled the clerk/auditor position after a special election in April, now works to restore the public’s trust in the position by offering education and transparency.
“These are your neighbors, your friends that are counting your ballots,” he says, “We are truly committed to this process.”
The most common concern he gets is about about voting security.
“Our office is always open for questions. We love to give tours, we give open houses. We want the public to come in here and actually know the process and have them have confidence.”
Citizens may call The Clerk/Auditor’s office at 435-755-1460 to schedule a tour of the Cache County Elections building and learn how the tabulation process works.