This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A committee advanced a bill Monday to ensure that most county governments will continue to have partisan offices, with candidates running as Republicans, Democrats or members of another party.
The House Political Subdivisions Committee voted 8-2 to send HB365 to the full House.
Some residents of Millard County have started work to organize a petition drive to change its county government offices from partisan to non-partisan — as elected offices in cities now are.
But Mark Thomas, state elections director for Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, says the Legislature in 2000 required partisan elections in all counties except two that were grandfathered under old rules, Grand and Morgan counties.
However, he said the Millard County attorney asserts that law is murky, and might allow nonpartisan elections. "I would hate that we go through that whole [initiative] process and all the sudden we've got to come down and say, 'sorry we just can't do this,' " Thomas said.
Rep. Merrill Nelson, R-Grantsville, sponsor of the bill, said it clarifies current policy. He adds it would save initiative organizers in Millard County "that wasted effort. If they want to pursue the bigger question whether to change existing law, we can talk about that."
Rep. Marie Poulson, D-Cottonwood Heights, opposed the bill saying non-partisan elections allow many more independents and Democrats to choose to serve in heavily Republican Utah. — Lee Davidson