Paula K. Smith: 'Lannie’s hard work as chief deputy clerk for Sherrie Swensen has exceeded my wildest expectations and makes her uniquely qualified to succeed Sherrie. She’s still the delightful, smart, and level-headed public servant she’s always been.'
Lannie Chapman, Chief Deputy Clerk, prepares primary election ballots for counting at the Salt Lake County Government Center on Wednesday July 1, 2020.The Salt Lake County Clerk’s job running elections is a huge amount of work. The job requires a backbone of steel to resist all the pressure the political parties, office holders and candidates sometimes try to assert. The clerk gets sued frequently. But it’s the most important job in the county.
I really wanted Lannie to accept Sherrie’s offer, but I didn’t want her to take it without knowing what she was in for and without really wanting it. I thought Sherrie, one of the most beloved elected officials in Salt Lake County because of her fairness and dedication, would retire at some point, and Lannie would make a great replacement. Despite the fact that there are Democratic and Republican candidates for county clerk, once elected, the clerk cannot favor one party or the other.
More importantly, though, the clerk’s office protects your democracy. It runs elections with staff and hundreds of trained volunteers. Every other year there is a general election. During the alternate years, there are city, town and district elections that the clerk’s office contracts to handle. Early voting, vote-by-mail, multiple drop boxes for ballots and vote centers have made voting convenient and secure for all eligible voters.
The Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office also issues marriage licenses and performs affordable marriage ceremonies. It follows the law. No licenses or ceremonies for same-sex couples when both were prohibited, but licenses and ceremonies as soon as it was legal. Unlike many other county clerks’ offices in Utah, the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office quickly changed course when the law concerning licenses and marriages switched back and forth.
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