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- A poll shows 70% of Utah voters, including Republicans, support signature gathering for candidates.
- Only 12% prefer the caucus-convention route as the sole ballot qualification method.
- A plurality of all voters would like to keep the status quo, where candidates can choose either route for getting on the ballot.
SALT LAKE CITY — The majority of Utah voters — including Republicans — favor allowing candidates to qualify for the primary ballot by collecting signatures, a new poll finds.
More than 10 years after Utah created the dual path for candidates to qualify — by winning the delegate vote at their party's nominating convention or by collecting signatures from a portion of party voters in their district — 70% of respondents in a recent poll said they prefer having the signature-gathering path as an option, while 12% said the caucus-convention route should be the only way to get on the ballot.
Among Republicans, a slightly higher 17% said candidates should only be placed on the ballot if they win at the party convention, but the majority of GOP respondents still favored the signature-gathering route in some form.
"Utah voters clearly like having more options when it comes to how they nominate candidates for the primary election ballot," said Taylor Morgan, the executive director of Count My Vote and one of the hosts of KSL NewsRadio's "Inside Sources." "Voters like having the signature option, but they also like having both signatures and the caucus-convention path."
The poll was commissioned by Count My Vote, but conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, a third-party polling firm based in Phoenix. Count My Vote led a ballot initiative in 2014 to replace the caucus system with a mandatory primary election, but state lawmakers preserved the caucus system in a compromise that created a dual path.
Since then, that compromise has been the subject of stiff opposition from a corner of the Utah GOP base, particularly among the 4,000-plus state delegates. Morgan described opposition to signature gathering as the "loyalty test" for party insiders, and many delegates argue they are more informed and engaged than the typical primary voter.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee — who defeated then-Sen. Bob Bennett at the 2010 state GOP convention — has often called for the signature path to be eliminated, and candidates who embrace the caucus system often perform well with delegates.
That was the case for Zac Wilson in last year's race for Utah's 3rd Congressional District. Wilson, the leader of the Utah Young Republicans, came just a few votes shy of qualifying for the primary election after forgoing signatures and has been a proponent of the caucus system because he says it allows candidates without deep pockets or broad name recognition to have a fighting chance.
He said he wasn't surprised by the support for the status quo among Utah Republicans, but told KSL.com that the "grassroots politicking" leading up to the nominating convention "is a vital part of American government."
"I am personally grateful for the caucus and convention system because it allows smaller-budget candidates to have a shot of getting on the ballot. I was outspent 50-to-1. Because of that, I never would have achieved the 38.5% I got at convention in an open primary," he said.
Wilson also said convention results are more predictive in municipal races, though the candidates who win at a convention in congressional and statewide races often underperform with GOP voters on the primary ballot.
Davidy Byler, Noble's chief of research, said the issue of how candidates qualify for the ballot isn't as high-profile for most voters — though a small group feel passionately about it — so he wasn't surprised to see a strong plurality of respondents, 44%, say they like the current system.
"When you look broadly across survey data ... when people don't have a strong opinion on the nuts and bolts of an issue, they tend to default to using some other value," he said. "So, what you see in cases like this is people reaching toward values that they already have and applying them here."
He thinks two factors contribute to the results in this instance.
"One is that the system seems to be working. Americans of any state really tend to leave it the way that it is," he said. "You also see people having sort of a bias toward small-d democracy and small-d democratic values. So, if you present people with two choices and one of them sounds like, 'Oh, that's the choice that gives power to the people' versus, 'That's the choice that leaves power with a smaller slice of people,' then people usually go with that first choice."
Morgan and Wilson both agree the overall process of picking candidates can be improved, both by the state shoring up the signature process and by the parties improving the function of their caucuses and conventions.
"The onus is on the state parties, Republican and Democrat, to make caucus (and) convention more accessible and to increase attendance," Wilson said. "There is no doubt that delegates are among the most informed voters in the state; they screen candidates, attend town halls and do the homework. ... Still, taking time for caucus night and ... conventions is not convenient for people who are less politically involved."
"In theory, the caucus-convention system is great. The problem is, in real life, it totally breaks down," Morgan added. "Utahns are not able to participate there. There are zero safeguards for security or transparency or accountability when it comes to how votes are counted and reported. ... There's nothing the state can do about that and the parties are not doing anything meaningful to improve their process."
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