The Utah House on Thursday voted down an attempt to end a new compromise election law.

HB68 died on a close vote, with 37 opposed and 34 in support, which leaves the possibility that it could be tweaked and resurrected later.



The bill likely would have made GOP candidates face a new choice: gather signatures to qualify for the primary ballot, or instead use the traditional caucus-convention system — but not both. HB68 would have given parties the power to decide whether to force such decisions.



A compromise election law passed in 2014, called SB54, allows candidates to choose to use both paths to the ballot, or just one. SB54 emerged to stop a ballot initiative at the time by Count My Vote that aimed to scrap the caucus-convention system in favor of a direct primary.

Since then, the Utah Republican Party has sued to overturn SB54 — saying the party should control how it chooses its nominees, and it preferred the caucus-convention system. Count My Vote this year is attempting to put another initiative on the ballot to cement SB54 into law, but reduce the number of signatures it would require.

Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, the House sponsor of SB54 back in 2014, now accuses Count My Vote of breaking deals made then. He said the number of signatures needed was kept intentionally high to help encourage the riskier caucus-convention path.

“In my opinion, the deal [SB54] is off,” he said Thursday.

The new bill’s sponsor, Rep. Justin Fawson, R-North Ogden, said it would still provide both options allowed by SB54, but parties may require candidates to pick just one.

“Both paths are desirable to the public,” he said. “This bill still leaves both paths open.”

Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Millcreek, complained HB68 “allows parties to limit choices,” and eliminates hard-fought compromises. “The public supports our current system” according to polls, she said.

TRACK THIS BILL Give political parties the power to chose whether to allow candidates to gather signatures or go through the caucus-convention system. - Read full text Current Status: Filed Law Introduced in House House Committee House passage Senate Committee Senate passage Governor's OK





Jan. 30: Gather signatures or go through a party convention? New Utah bill would force potential candidates to choose their path to election



Gather signatures or go through a party convention? New Utah bill would force potential candidates to choose their path to election.

Jan. 30 Legislative opponents to current election law that allows a candidate to both gather signatures and go through a party convention to get on the primary ballot have come up with a new line of attack.

HB68 would authorize political parties to require a candidate to choose one or the other, barring a hopeful from taking both paths to the ballot.

The measure cleared the House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday on a 7-3 vote.

HB68 would give political parties the option to retain the current two-pronged nomination system, or choose the new option to force candidates to choose just one path to the primary ballot.

“The intent is to not undermine either of those systems,” said Rep. Justin Fawson, R-North Ogden, sponsor of the new bill. “I can’t see any downside” to the change.

He said the current system sometimes makes the caucus-convention system irrelevant, and he wants to change that.

A prominent example of that was last year’s special election to replace Congressman Jason Chaffetz’s seat when he stepped down. Provo Mayor John Curtis was defeated in the Republican Convention but appeared on the primary ballot anyway because he had gathered signatures. He rather easily won that contest and went on to win the general election.

A change to ensure that winning a convention would actually qualify or disqualify people for the ballot would make them meaningful again, Fawson said.

He added that polling shows that the public does not want tolose options for candidates to qualify for the ballot, and his billhonors that — and believes it is a compromise that would be supported bythe public, parties and candidates.

It comes as the Utah Republican Party is continuing lawsuits challenging current law (SB54), seeking to return to just the caucus-convention system. But the organization Count My Vote is pushing a ballot measure that would cement SB54 into place — but lower the number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot.

Among supporters of HB68 is Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, the House sponsor of the original SB54.

He said the compromise that created SB54 “is dead” because of the new initiative being pushed by Count My Vote. McCay said that violates the original agreement to plug the plug on a 2014 ballot drive to end convention nominations and use signature gathering exclusively to determine primary candidates.

Phill Wright, a former vice chairman of the Utah Republican Party who is an ardent defender of the caucus-convention system, also said he supports HB68, although reluctantly.