There could be a significant shift in signature gathering by candidates in order to get on the Primary Election ballot in Utah under a new bill. A pair of hands counting piles of ballot papers during an election. (Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is still thousands of votes away from knowing which candidates won most of the Primary elections on Tuesday night.
State elections officials said on Wednesday night that in Salt Lake County alone there are still nearly 53,800 ballots yet to be counted.
In Davis county, 14,437 ballots still need to be tabulated. And in Utah County, 5,335 votes have not yet been included in official returns.
In total, the state of Utah has 11,576 ballots yet to count and that does not include 770 provisional ballots.
Officials told KSL Newsradio’s election desk anchor Lindsay Aerts that it’s possible that not all ballots have been sent in.
Officials have been able to call one race: Burgess Owens won the Republican nomination for Utah’s 4th Congressional District. He will face incumbent Democrat Ben McAdams in the fall.
When the first vote count was released Tuesday night, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox had a slight lead against Jon Huntsman, Jr., the former governor who also served as ambassador to China and Russia. At last count, Cox had a three percentage point lead over Huntsman.
Cox leads in most counties besides Salt Lake and Washington County, where Huntsman received more votes.
A new ballot count is expected on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.