PROVO, Utah — Although Election Day has passed, the mayoral race in Provo remains undecided nearly 24 hours later and is too close to call.
"We're trying to get done with the general election ballots," said Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson, who that a significant number of votes were still waiting to be counted.
The county received approximately 67,000 ballots on Monday, followed by another major influx.
"... yesterday we received 51,000 [ballots], just in that one day, we still have 41,000 ballots to tabulate,” said Davidson.
Politics
2025 Utah general election results
The county's final voter turnout is expected to exceed 30 percent, with Davison adding that a 20-25 percent turnout is typically seen in a municipal election. "So, it’s pretty good," he said.
The high turnout is having a major impact on the Provo mayor's race, where incumbent Michelle Kaufusi faces a challenge from former Utah Rep. Marsha Judkins.
"That’s a highly contested race and it's razor thin right now," said Davidson.
Sweeping changes as new mayors voted in across Utah on election day:
Judkins was proud of how her team of volunteers had worked over her campaign period.
"Knocked on hundreds and hundreds of doors," she said. "I cannot give a big enough shoutout to my amazing volunteers and supporters."
Judkins acknowledged the difficulty of running against a seated mayor, who has held the office since 2018.
"It’s really hard to run against an incumbent; they have a lot of inherent advantages, but I’m excited about how close it is," said Judkins.
Kaufusi is waiting until the results are made official before making a statement.
Davidson noted that this year's contest is a significant shift from the 2021 election, when "Kaufusi won with 74.5% of the votes." He said the current race is more reminiscent of 2017, which was also a close contest.
Back at the election center, officials and volunteers remain at work to count every vote.
"We got some volunteers that came in today," said Davidson, "so we’ve got plenty of people flattening, and hopefully, we can get the signature process going and get that done.”
