In voting, we, the people of Utah, select political leaders we hope will represent our views and act with honor and integrity. In fact, we might pray for them using words such as pioneer Eliza R. Snow’s: “Let them seek for wisdom instead of power and they will have all the power they have wisdom to exercise.”
Democracy, we believe, provides assurance that the power and trust we invest in elected leaders will not be abused. To that end, George Washington, in his farewell address on Sept. 17, 1796, forewarned, “However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
We invite all Utah voters to consider whether the political leaders involved in the Senate Bill 54 chronicles have honored the people’s trust or whether their fear of losing control has led them to “subvert the will of the people,” as Washington feared. That question then leads us to consider new possibilities for broader citizen engagement in the election process. Here’s the SB54 story.
In 2010, a group of mostly moderate community leaders, Republicans and Democrats alike, met to “increase civic engagement and voter participation” and discuss alternatives to the caucus system in Utah. Republican Party stalwarts forcefully support this system, extolling its volunteer base and community orientation. However, a significant number of Utahns believe caucuses produce candidates with extreme views and leave citizens without a moderate choice.
In 2014, Count My Vote, the grassroots movement born out of the 2010 meetings, collected signatures for a ballot initiative replacing caucuses in Utah with a statewide primary. To avoid that possibility, Utah’s Republican-controlled Legislature and governor compromised with Count My Vote, and Senate Bill 54 was developed and passed. This law provided for a dual pathway to candidacy, via signatures or caucuses.
In the days when one’s word or handshake was their bond, all parties in the SB54 compromise would have moved forward, confident in their good-faith agreement. Instead, every year since SB54 passed, the Utah Republican Central Committee has appealed the law in state and federal courts. With the failure of those appeals, the SB54 law stands. Now, in 2018, the Republican party has turned to the Supreme Court, requesting that the federal court’s support of SB54 be overturned. In addition, Utah’s Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Rob Bishop, along with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, have submitted an amicus filing to the court advocating for the caucus system as optimal. These dogged efforts to undo SB54 disregard the call from the people of Utah for a more inclusive voice in the election process and bespeak a calculated resolve to maintain status quo and control.
The fate of Utah Senate Bill 54 lies in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, which has, in turn, requested a response from the state of Utah. We request that the response from Utah to the Supreme Court reflect forthright respect for the SB54 compromise and honor the people of Utah who seek a stronger voice in government.
Looking to the future, could the SB54 controversies generate discourse toward enhancing the voice of the people and “making our votes count”? The United Utah Party introduced an option for those desiring to end extreme partisanship. However, in our winner-take-all election system, third-party choices can cause what’s referred to as “strategic voting” or voting for candidates more likely to win instead of preferred choices. In this voting scenario, such winners are not likely to earn a majority of votes.
Another option, ranked-choice-voting, provides greater value for each individual vote by counting the voter’s preference in each consecutive tally. Such a process ensures a majority winner, motivates candidates to appeal to the broader electorate in order to win, gives weight to third parties and increases voter engagement.
We implore Utah political leaders to prioritize people over party by supporting and helping develop an open and fair election process involving the broadest possible citizen participation. Along with Eliza R. Snow, we, the people, say, “Let them seek for wisdom instead of power and they will have all the power they have wisdom to exercise.”
Camille Baker is a retired mathematics teacher. Linda Keyes retired as director of learning for life for The Great Salt Lake Council, Boy Scouts of America. Both are members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
