The June primary election is now over, and the ballots cast were few, as expected. However, the Clerk’s Office did have some “excitement.” When the election clerks opened the Search & Rescue Building for Precinct No. 19, they were greeted by a snake. The clerks were quite upset, as was the snake, because he was not registered and could not vote.

As we were setting up for a public demonstration of the election equipment, Holly Shields plugged the equipment into an outlet in the old District Courtroom, and was greeted with sparks and a flame that shot up out of the plug. Needless to say, Holly’s heart was now racing — and it wasn’t in anticipation for the upcoming count.

Tooele City Fire Chief 1st Assistant Dave Gillette used a heat imager on the outlet and decided it was unsafe for use, as it was still sparking and red, so the election equipment was moved to the County Commission chambers. Fortunately, the excitement diminished from there.

The results of the election are as follows: registered voters, 29,970; ballots cast, 1,014, percentage turnout, 3.38 percent; Richard K. Ellis, 563 votes, 55.80 percent; Mark Walker, 446 votes, 44.2 percent.

Full precinct-by-precinct results are available on the Clerk’s Office Web site at www.co.tooele.ut.us/clerk.htm.

As dismal as the turnout was, it did accomplish one thing. Currently Utah Code requires that polling locations be established 90 days before an election. On the docket for the Clerk’s Legislative Committee next year will be an item to change the date for establishing polling locations until after the state conventions, so we know how many races each county will have. If we had been able to consolidate polling locations for this race, it would have cost much less.

Thanks to those who did vote. We look forward to a much larger turnout in the November general election.

Marilyn Gillette is the Tooele County Clerk.