I feel that an increasingly large fraction of Utahns are dissatisfied with the political parties of Utah and the candidates they put up. Voters are often stuck between liberal Democrats (full disclosure: I am one) whose pro-choice views are anathema to the moral conscience of most of Utah voters, and unprincipled Republicans who fully support Donald Trump, a president whose lack of compassion and demagoguery are likewise antithetical to Utah voters' values.

While parties such as the United Utah party try to fill the void between the two, the current voting system means that a vote for independents and non-major parties helps Democrats (or Republicans) that voters vehemently disagree with. The solution: an alternative voting system known as approval voting.

Under approval voting, voters can vote for every candidate they desire, meaning that votes could be cast for both the United Utah Party's candidate and the Republican Party's candidate, for example. This would eliminate the spoiler effect that sours our elections and force candidates to find common ground and not divide us. While there are other alternative voting systems that try to accomplish the same thing, approval voting does so more simply and effectively than other systems such as instant runoff voting (Google "to build a better ballot" to see the differences between these systems demonstrated).

In a Utah increasingly dissatisfied with both parties, approval voting would allow Utahns to vote their conscience without giving aid to candidates they dislike.

Stuart Hepworth

South Jordan