The Independent View: Utah Bills to Restore Old Caucus-Primary System

I have always been against the Caucus system, it gave a smaller group of voters to much control on candidates who would appear on a party ballot.

Utah has been the only state in which it is impossible for a candidate to get on a partisan primary ballot unless that party’s caucus gives that candidate substantial support before the primary. In 2014 the legislature passed SB 43, "Count My Vote", which sets up a procedure for a candidate to run in a primary, even if he or she doesn’t show substantial support at an earlier caucus.

Candidates would be able to earn a spot on the primary ballot by gathering voter signatures or participating in the current system, where delegates selected at party caucus meetings have the power to choose nominees.

However, on February 6, the Senate Government Operations & Political Subdivisions Committee passed, with Republicans voting for the measures, two bills, sponsored by Sen. Scott Jenkins (R-Plain City), that would undo what the legislature did in 2014.

SB 43 postpones the new system until after the 2016 election.

SJR2 would repeal the new system.

Alliance for a Better UTAH has released the following the statement:

“The legislature, led by Sen. Scott Jenkins, has acted entirely contrary to the will of mainstream Utahan's by passing out of committee the anti-Count My Vote bills,” said Maryann Martindale, executive director. “Their actions today further demonstrate just how out of touch our state legislature is. At a time when Utah voter turnout is at historic lows, the state legislature should be opening the electoral process, not restricting it.”

"The state is ready for a change," Rich McKeown, executive co-chairman of Count My Vote, told the Deseret News and KSL editorial board recently, calling attempts to alter the compromise "an effort to retain power and control" over elections.

The stated intent of Count My Vote has always been to increase voter participation by making primary elections more competitive in the GOP-dominated state where many races are all but decided by delegates at party conventions.

Another bill SB54, would allow political parties to agree to a number of provisions including opening their primary elections to unaffiliated voters and continue to use the current caucus and convention system to nominate candidates.

A hearing in federal court on an injunction against SB54 was delayed Wednesday until after the legislative session ends.

The GOP's lawsuit claims SB54 violates the party's constitutional protections, including the rights of Republicans to determine who can vote in their primary elections.