There has been outrage from Republicans over previously unaffiliated or registered Democrats registering as Republicans in order to vote in the closed Utah Republican primary. Before, Republicans were outraged by the Count My Vote initiative to allow candidates to bypass the caucuses by collecting signatures.
Party affiliation can be a stronger affiliation than race, religion or ethnicity. These efforts could be seen as interference with the internal workings of a private organization core to a person’s identity. On the other hand it is clear that our election system is broken.
The Utah Constitution states: “All political power is inherent in the people.” Our election system fails horribly to live up to that ideal. This system has given us a Legislature that has overturned the will of the people on almost every voter initiative. This Legislature passed a tax bill so unpopular they immediately had to repeal it. My representative is unresponsive when contacted and hasn’t posted anything policy related in over two years. Still, he has run virtually unopposed for the last 10 years and won about 80% of the vote because he is a Republican.
This can be fixed without interfering with the Republican Party. They can have their closed primary. The only way to appear on the general election ballot should be gathering signatures and the winner can be effectively selected from the large field by ranked-choice voting. This will select more representative candidates and will save money administering elections.
This won’t happen before November. If you favor government accountability, transparency and fiscal responsibility, try the United Utah Party. We need to show our government we demand representation. If Republicans don’t want interference in their internal processes, they should change the external election processes so that representatives are representative.
Michael Witting, Orem
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible