Utah state officials say final election results show this year's voter turnout was the highest in nearly three decades.
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said Monday at the canvass that 82 percent of active registered voters cast ballots in the November election.
That mark barely surpasses the 82 percent turnout in the 1988 election. Turnout was 80 percent in 2012, when Mitt Romney was the Republican presidential nominee.
In many counties across the state, turnout was much higher than the state average and past elections. Kane County had 92 percent turnout and Grand County had 91 percent. Renee Baker, Grand County Deputy Clerk said this is the 5th time the county did by-mail only, but they’ve never had turnout this high.
“The last by-mail election, I think we hit 76 percent. So it’s up quite a bit and I’m sure it’s because it was a big election,” Baker said.
Cox said Utah's surprise position as a "toss-up" state, due to perceived widespread dislike for Trump, likely fueled the increased interest. He said mail-in voting in 21 of the state's 29 counties could have also helped.