Utah's odd recent history of voter participation

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Voter turnout as % of VEP (voter eligible population)
as calculated by http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/voter-turnout-data

1980 66.6%
1982 55.8%
1984 64.3%
1986 43.5%
1988 63.4%
1990 42.2%
1992 67.5%
1994 42.7%
1996 52.1%
1998 36.7%
2000 54.8%
2002 37.8%
2004 59.8%
2006 35.0%
2008 57.1%
2010 36.8%
2012 56.1%
2014 30.3%
2016 57.9%

In the 1980s, Utah was one of the highest in voter participation.  This is what one might expect given Utah's high level of education, religious attendance, and political culture with Yankee / Upper Midwestern roots.
But then a significant drop in the mid-90s.  Why? 

Most surprising of all, according to these figures the 2012 election, featuring Mitt Romney, was the lowest!   I can see how the presence of a 3rd candidate with appeal there in 2016 may have boosted turnout, as it did in 1992  .. but still, why so much lower than one would expect in 2012?

Does this have to do with migration or other demographic changes?  Perhaps a disenchantment with the political process?

[DINGO Joe]

Don't know much about Utah, but they've had  growth in the Hispanic population like many other states, and Hispanics participate at a very low rate in elections.  It's my understanding that the younger Mormon generation isn't quite as interested in the Church as their elders, so that may carry over to politics too.

[ElectionsGuy]

^^^ Not only that, it's the state with the highest birth rate so the population as a whole is by far the youngest, and we know young people have lower turnout rates. Utah's population started booming in the 1970's. It had a 37.9% growth rate from 1970 to 1980. That would mean a lot of this people turned into voting age in the mid to late 90's, which coincides with the lower turnout rate starting then.

But it's also worth noting 1996 was a lower turnout election nationally.

[RI]

LDS President Ezra Taft Benson died in 1994. Benson was hugely political and anti-communist. I believe his successors emphasized politics quite a bit less, relative to Benson.

[Mr. Smith]

Not odd at all when considering the proportion of non-Mormons for those years.

[Sumner 1868]

LDS President Ezra Taft Benson died in 1994. Benson was hugely political and anti-communist. I believe his successors emphasized politics quite a bit less, relative to Benson.

They did, and yet Democrats were far more competitive in Utah during those years than they are today. Makes me wonder if Benson's political pull was exaggerated in hindsight.