As of last week, there are 565,714 registered unaffiliated voters in Utah. That is nearly half of the total number of registered voters in the state.
In Utah, an unaffiliated voter is a citizen who has chosen to register to vote, but not to affiliate with any political party.
Registered unaffiliated voters make up the second largest voting bloc in Utah, right after registered Republicans.
That’s a lot of power. Unaffiliated voters have the ability to determine the outcome of a race in Utah — but only if they affiliate long enough to vote in the primary election.
Let me explain. The Utah Republican party has chosen to have a closed primary system. This means that only registered Republicans can vote in Republican primary races. And because Utah is essentially a one-party state (the Republican party holds all four of Utah’s U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the governorship and has supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature), this means that unless a voter affiliates Republican, at least for the primary election, he/she has no voice at all in Utah politics.
This closed primary system disenfranchises voters in Utah who are not Republican. This is wrong.
Voters in Utah who register as “unaffiliated” tend to be engaged citizens who care deeply about issues and base their decisions on principles rather than party allegiance. In elections, they vote for the candidate and not the party. But the problem, at least in a Utah primary race, is that they can’t vote at all for anyone with an actual chance of winning unless they register Republican.
Again, this is wrong. But it’s the system that exists — a system that many believe should be changed. But until that happens, unaffiliated voters are left with this dilemma: They can remain unaffiliated and have no voice, or they can affiliate Republican so that they can participate in the one primary race that matters in Utah when it comes to who will be on the general ballot and who, in all probability, will win the general election.
On Sept. 5, constituents who live in Utah’s 2nd Congressional district will have the opportunity to choose the person who will appear on the ballot for the general election on Nov. 21 to fill Rep. Chris Stewart’s seat. Three Republicans have qualified to be on the primary ballot — Becky Edwards, Celeste Maloy and Bruce Hough. Neither Maloy or Hough have any legislative experience and both are more extremist in their views than Becky Edwards, a principled moderate who has a proven track record as a highly effective lawmaker in the Utah Legislature for 10 years and is respected across the board as a leader who listens to her constituents, finds common sense solutions and works with others to get things done. Edwards is a problem-solver and a unifier. She bases her policies on sound, moral principles and not on allegiance to hyper-partisan positions or personalities — all traits that are highly valued by unaffiliated voters.
Fortunately, unaffiliated voters in Utah have the right under the law to affiliate at any time. If you are officially affiliated with a different party, the deadline for changing that affiliation in order to vote in the upcoming Republican primary election has passed, but new, unregistered or unaffiliated voters can still affiliate Republican. According to the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office, this can be done online at vote.utah.gov through Aug. 25 or in person at the polls on Sept. 5. If you’re not sure what your voter status is, you can check it here.
This special election is a critical one. Unregistered and unaffiliated citizens must step up and claim their right to have their voices heard through their vote. If they do, they could very well determine the outcome of this race.
Sharlee Mullins Glenn
Sharlee Mullins Glenn is an engaged citizen who cannot, in good conscience, align herself with any political party, but affiliates Republican before every primary election in order to have a voice in Utah politics. She is an author and advocate, and currently sits on the external advisory board for BYU’s Office of Civic Engagement. The views expressed here are her own.
