About 1.5 million Utahns voted in the 2024 general election, according to election results from all 29 counties and certified by the state on Wednesday.
That’s 85.27% of the ballots mailed to Utah’s 1.8 million registered voters, a dip from the 90.09% turnout in 2020. Though about 13,300 more people cast ballots than four years ago, nearly 111,000 more people were registered.
“For whatever reason, about 5% less this time decided not to participate, but 85% is still a really good turnout in an election,” Utah elections director Ryan Cowley said Monday afternoon during a meeting of the State Board of Canvassers.
Utahns supported former president Donald Trump this year more than they did Gov. Spencer Cox in all but two of Utah’s 29 counties, according to the state’s official canvass. The results contrast greatly with 2020 when Cox got about 53,000 more votes than Trump in the statewide election.
And while enthusiasm was down compared to 2020, a higher portion of voters showed up this year than the 82% turnout in 2016 — and nearly every county had a higher percentage of voters cast a ballot this year than in 2016.
Cowley said turnout “ebbs and flows a little bit with the issues that are on the ballot and the candidates” and the state is more concerned about making sure people have access than whether they participate.
“I’ve always viewed our role as one of referee and making sure that people can participate in the process, he said. “So we don’t focus a whole lot on turnout.”
2024 turnout by county
Turnout — and the shift in participation — varied across the state.
Utah’s rural counties generally had higher turnout this year, with Grand, Rich at Wayne counties reporting 90% or higher.
In contrast, Tooele County had the lowest turnout at 83.19%.
Utah County was trailing in early returns on election night and didn’t make up much ground despite long lines for in-person voting — ultimately causing some ballot printers to run out of ink and for the state to send a plane to Arizona because of worries about ballot paper shortages. The county, Utah’s second most populous, ended up with the third-lowest turnout at 83.76%.
Turnout was also lower than the state rate along the rest of the Wasatch Front, with Salt Lake County at 84.88%, Weber County at 85.02% and 85.19% in Davis County.
Few Utah counties had higher turnout this year than in 2020. The exceptions were Garfield, Grand, Juab, Kane, Piute and Rich counties, where turnout increased by as much as 4.2 percentage points.
Elsewhere, turnout dipped at least one percentage point and as much as 8.5 percentage points in Carbon County.
Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.
