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Show A-6 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, July 25-28, 2020 The Park Record Continued from A-5 We specialize in resort mortgage lending, jumbos, condo hotels*, conventional, FHA and VA. Your LOCAL mortgage specialist, Loving, Living, Lending put in place by the Legislature to lessen the effects of the virus, which were mostly aimed at reducing interaction between poll workers and voters and included restricting in-person voting, banning election-day voter registration and switching to an almost exclusively mail-in vote. Jones anticipates many of the same measures will be enacted in November. Meredith Reed, the chair of the Summit County Democrats, said she was initially worried that people might sit out the election because of the pandemic, but was impressed with the level of engagement she witnessed from local voters, which she said was a credit to local candidates. “I was really impressed with ... people that cared enough to write in to The Park Record, people that, their viewpoint, their experience with these candidates inspired them to support them and really be publicly engaged with that process, not just like ‘OK, whatever, we’re holed up in shutdown mode,’” Reed said. Jennifer McDonald, chair of the Summit County Republicans, did not return a request for comment. Summit County has about 26,000 registered voters, Jones said, but primary elections see lower turnout for multiple reasons, including the fact that some races are only open to members of a certain political party. Those numbers tend to increase in presidential contests. That doesn’t mean that local primaries aren’t important, though. Utah hasn’t elected a Democratic governor in decades and the winner of the Republican gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, is the odds-on favorite to win in November. The inverse is true in Summit County, where no Republican filed to run for a seat on the all-Democratic County Council, virtually assuring the winner of that Democratic primary, Malena Stevens, a seat on the council. According to the official results, 10,856 Summit County residents voted in the primary, just shy of the 10,984 that participated in the March presidential primary. Jones said that the 2016 presidential election was the first in which the county used a voteby-mail option, and that voting by mail has not hurt turnout. The 2016 presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton drew 87.6% voter participation in the county, some 21,037 votes. He flatly dismissed notions that voting by mail increases the chances of voter fraud. Each ballot requires a signature, he said, which is compared against signatures on file, and a specific barcode on each ballot prevents a person from voting twice, even if they’d received a Democratic primary ballot and then changed parties and also received a Republican one. “You know, people have that in mind,” Jones said of voter fraud. “But if they see what we do and follow the process. ... There’s a lot of stuff that can happen, it never does.” Jones predicted the state Legislature would keep many of the same steps in place for November’s election, including limiting in-person voting options. If something were to change, he thinks ballots might be mailed a week earlier compared to previous elections to give county clerks more time to ensure people who need a ballot receive one. “Think we’re still going to see pretty much an all-by-mail election, probably going to see no in-person registration or sameday voting, that kind of stuff,” Jones said. “Because the by-mail is still getting record numbers as far as returns, so we’re not alienating anybody.” According to the Summit County Attorney’s Office, the following cases were heard on Monday, July 20, in 3rd District Court at the Summit County Justice Center. Austin Stanger, 27, of Park City, entered into a 12-month plea in abeyance to criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor. The court ordered the defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $1,380.45 and complete other standard terms and conditions. Jill Leah Adams, 39, of Park City, pleaded guilty to DUI, a third-degree felony. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 31. Steven Joseph Bonnett, 30, of Heber, pleaded guilty to assault, a class A misdemeanor. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 31. Shawn Allen Maul, 42, pleaded guilty to assault by prisoner, a third-degree felony. The court imposed a 90-day jail sentence to be served concurrently with any other sentence the defendant is currently serving. Alfredo Pena Acosta, 38, of Heber, was sentenced for the offense of burglary, a third-degree felony. The court placed the defendant on supervised probation for 36 months and ordered the defendant to serve 84 days in jail and to complete other standard terms and conditions. The court also imposed a suspended sentence of zero to five years at the Utah State Prison. Primary success The Park City Lifestyle! Lisa Lundquist Senior Loan Officer NMLS#268664 lisal@vfund.com 435.659.1390 311 Main Street Park City, UT Court Report Veritas Funding NMLS#252108 is an Equal Housing Lender. This is not an offer of credit or commitment to lend. *Veritas Funding Brokers these loans. PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO The measures put in place to combat COVID-19 did not appear to stymie voter participation, as nearly 11,000 voters participated in the June 30 primary. That’s almost double the 2018 primary and nearly matches the turnout for the presidential primary in March. The Summit County Clerk has touted voting by mail and said it does not increase the chances of voter fraud. Get 53% Off the newsstand price when you subscribe! For an in-county rate of only $56 a year, you can save 53% from the newsstand and receive: DAYS OF ’47 SALE-A-BRATION! • Home Delivery • Park Record E-edition • Real Estate Monthly • All Park Record Magazines • Free Sunday Salt Lake Tribune Call 435-649-9014 to get your subscription today! Select option 3 when prompted THE RODEO MAY BE CANCELLED, BUT YOU CAN STILL LASSO SOME SAVINGS. Save even more with a 2 year subscription! 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