Residents of Hildale and Rocky Ridge approved the measure by almost identical margins: 79 percent and 80 percent.
Hildale, in Washington County, is home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Rocky Ridge, in Juab County, is a satellite community of the Apostolic United Brethren, also known as the Allred group. The AUB has members scattered through the state, primarily in the Salt Lake Valley.
Some voucher critics argued that, if approved, the law would funnel tax dollars to schools in polygamous communities.
It was an unfounded fear.
The voucher law barred scholarships from being used at schools that encourage "illegal conduct" - a provision apparently aimed at making private schools in polygamous communities ineligible.
But Hildale and Rocky Ridge voters may have missed that point. The support also might have been a symbolic vote for the right to choose.
In Rocky Ridge, which had a 50 percent turnout, 82 people voted for vouchers and 20 voted against the measure. The community has a private school for grades K-7. Some residents operate home schools, while others send their children to public schools in Mona, Nephi and even Payson.
In Hildale, where county records show 13 percent of voters participated in the election, 67 people voted for the voucher law and 19 against it.
"I am surprised at that," said Hildale Mayor David Zitting. "It really [wasn't] going to benefit people directly in the community who are using home schools and private schools."
The referendum was approved in 34 of Washington County's 84 precincts.
Zitting said that some Hildale voters, like others around the state, may have misinterpreted the referendum's wording.
Other provisions of the law would have been obstacles in the community, too, such as a requirement that teachers have bachelor's degrees and pass background checks and that the school's program be accredited.
"That's really a mystery to me," Zitting said of the result.
The FLDS pulled their children from the public school system in 2000. The community initially set up a series of private schools. Last fall, however, many of those schools were shuttered and families began home schooling their children.
brooke@sltrib.com
