SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Utah Senate on Thursday advanced a bill lawmakers say strikes a compromise between defenders and opponents of the state’s caucus system for nominating candidates.
With a 26-2 vote, senators agreed to move the bill forward for a final vote. It would then need approval in the House.
The proposal from Provo Republican Sen. Curt Bramble requires political parties to adopt changes making the nominating process more inclusive or use a primary election.
But a group called Count My Vote, backed by several high-profile Republicans, argues the bill circumvents their efforts to get the issue before voters this fall. They’re gathering signatures for a ballot initiative that would move away from the caucus system in favor of primary elections.
Because Bramble’s bill takes the exact language of their petition and ties it to certain conditions, they say his legislation will nullify their effort.
“It’s really a shocking disregard of the people’s voice,” said Rich McKeown, Count My Vote’s executive chairman. “They’ve put themselves in a position to say, ’We know better.’”
Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican who supports the caucus system, appears to agree, saying he might veto Bramble’s bill if it appears to thwart the citizen effort.
“Let the process play out without any kind of games,” Herbert said at his monthly televised news conference Wednesday.
Bramble said just because the group is trying to get a petition on the ballot doesn’t mean lawmakers must avoid the issue. He said if legislators fail to step in, “that does a disservice to the process.”
“There is no guarantee that they’ll get the signatures. There is no guarantee that the initiative would pass,” he said. “But it is certain that there are certain reforms that we can do to increase citizen participation.”
Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said the state constitution gives equal weight to laws passed by the people and those passed by legislators.
“They are no more important than we are up here,” Hillyard said.
The current system of local caucus meetings and a nominating convention is used by only a handful of other states. Under Utah’s system, a candidate can avoid a primary race if he or she gets 60 percent of the votes from delegates at the conventions. If no candidate reaches the 60 percent threshold, the top two candidates compete in a primary.
Supporters of the caucus system argue it levels the economic playing field by forcing candidates to win over local delegates in person.
Count My Vote argues the system is difficult for average people to participate in because it requires voters to attend meetings on a given night.
When it’s difficult for people to participate, that allows factions such as the tea party to advance extreme candidates instead of moderates, the group argues.
Bramble maintains his bill addresses Count My Vote’s complaints about participation. The measure would require political parties to let members cast absentee votes for neighborhood caucus meetings.
It also would raise the threshold to at least 65 percent in order for a candidate to avoid a primary election. If the threshold is not met and a primary election takes place, it must be open to unaffiliated voters.
If parties don’t adopt those changes, they’d have to adopt a primary system, Bramble’s bill says.
Bramble said his proposal weaves together elements from both sides and preserves the caucus system.
“No one gets everything they want in this bill,” he said. “It gives everyone something that they can lay hold of and claim victory.”
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Online:
SB 54: https://1.usa.gov/1dpokmV
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