Melanie Abplanalp, the Washington County Election Clerk indicated this is the first time Ivins City used the electronic voting machines for a Municipal General Election. Melanie referred to the Official Results data provided by Washington County. A copy of this data is available by request through Ivins City Hall. Melanie reported that there are four (4) precincts in Ivins and 1609 individuals voted out of 3905 registered voters in Ivins. That is a 41.20% turnout, which is good for a Municipal General Election. Council Member Elwell referred to the requirement of providing photo identification for this first time in an election and the concern about the difficulty of voting when individuals were registered to vote but had moved. Melanie indicated that in Utah if someone get married or moves, even if it is next door, they are supposed to re-register to vote. Regarding the photo identification requirement, Melanie referenced House Bill 126 that passed this year. That Bill required the voter to bring current photo ID to the polling location. The photo ID could be a current drivers license with a current residential address, a State ID card, concealed weapons permit and a few other options identified in the Bill. If the voter did not have one of these types of ID, they were required to provide secondary ID. There are many forms of secondary ID outlined in the Bill. The Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) requires an individual to update their address in the DMV system, within ten (10) days of moving. The DMV use to send individuals a sticker with their updated address on the sticker, to place on the back of their drivers license but the DMV no longer does that. If the voter did not have property ID, they were given the opportunity to go and get the proper ID or to vote provisionally. If they voted provisionally, they had 5 days to provide proof of their identity to the County Clerk.
Council Member Rusick inquired how the ID process works for absentee ballots and Melanie indicated the absentee ballots do not have the ID requirement. There has also been an assumption that an individual is automatically registered to vote if they signed up for the draft and Melanie indicated that is not the case. Mayor Pro Tem Elwell and the City Council Members that were present thanked Melanie Abplanalp for being in attendance at this Special City Council Meeting and for answering their questions.