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A push to change Utah's nominating process backed by several prominent politicos, including former Gov. Mike Leavitt, is being put on hold for now, but backers say it could be back in 2014.

Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, said his group remains convinced that something needs to be done to boost Utah's voter participation, and that changing Utah's unique convention system for nominating candidates could do that.

But looming deadlines and tough standards to get on the ballot make it difficult to get the ballot initiative before voters in the coming election year.

"It seems the most prudent course is to give ourselves enough time to see if the Legislature can take some actions to help our state get back to where it should be" in terms of voter participation, Jowers said. "If not, we'll obviously keep all options open for 2014."

Currently, Democratic and Republican delegates, chosen at neighborhood caucuses, choose nominees at their party conventions and often are effectively deciding the election because many races are not seriously contested.

Leavitt, Jowers and company formed a political issues committee — The Alliance for Good Government — last month and began lining up $300,000 in donor support for a ballot initiative. Their chief concern is that strident partisans on both sides had taken over the delegate system and it was driving down voter turnout for mainstream Utahns.

In recent years, that has resulted in the delegates defeating former Gov. Olene Walker and Sen. Bob Bennett, both of whom were popular with the general public, but not seen as conservative enough for the GOP faithful. It also meant a primary fight for Rep. Jim Matheson, whom Democratic delegates viewed as insufficiently liberal.

The Alliance proposed an alternate route to the ballot, by letting candidates gather a specified number of signatures. Connecticut also has a system that allows candidates to reach a primary ballot through either a party convention or signature gathering.

But to get the issue on the statewide 2012 ballot, the Alliance would have to gather 96,234 signatures in 26 of Utah's 29 Senate districts by April 15.

And they would have to get their ballot language authorized by the lieutenant governor's office and hold a series of seven public meetings around the state before they could begin collecting signatures.

Even if they succeeded in gathering the signatures, opponents of the measure would have a month to persuade those who signed the petition to remove their names.

"We plan to remain active. We will continue to discuss with legislators, delegates party leaders, possible solutions," Jowers said. "We will raise funds and form a coalition that can support these efforts by others who are working on the participation problem. And we'll be ready for any other option if the Legislature and the parties can't do anything to improve the process."

Earlier, the group had concluded that it is unlikely that legislators would act to change the system, citing in a memo a "conflict of interest," since they had benefited from the existing process.

LaVarr Webb, a consultant with the Exoro Group and longtime adviser to Leavitt, said that the group concluded that "we need to take it through that process before we take it to the citizens and make a good-faith effort to work through the Legislature and parties, rather than just skip over those steps."

A report last month from the Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan think-tank, found that Utah is one of just a few states that still uses a convention system, and the only one that allows parties to preclude a primary election.

The Foundation said that delegates tend to be the most zealous members of both parties, which influences public policy. Changing the system could boost voter turnout and moderate policy, the Foundation said.

Jowers is scheduled to debate the issue with Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright at a forum Friday hosted by the Utah Foundation.