Feast your eyes on the full Robert Gehrke story here:Despite grumbling and constitutional doubts, the Utah Legislature sent a deal to Gov. Gary Herbert that will overhaul the process for choosing candidates for office and bring to an end Count My Vote’s ballot initiative."I don’t argue that this policy will be better than the caucus-convention process," said Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton. "The vote today is not whether you like one [nominating system] over the other. … Your vote today is ‘do I preserve a history at the same time I grab the future?’ That is this bill."While the bill, SB54s2, lets parties keep their existing caucus-and-convention system for nominating candidates, it also allows aspiring officeholders who collect enough petition signatures to go straight to the primary ballot.
The bill is now headed to Governor Herbert for his signature, which looks like a fait accompli, judging from his remarks on this subject:
I applaud their efforts of trying to find a compromise that protects the convention-caucus system, which I’ve been a big supporter of in the past, and yet provides opportunity for a general primary and a different pathway to the ballot," Herbert said before the Legislature’s final passage..Brace yourselves for a sea change in Utah politics, as these monumental changes to the nominating process take effect, beginning with the 2016 Utah General Election.
We'll chalk this up as a rare victory for the democratic process in Utah, folks.
Thanks and congrats to the Utah lumpencitizens for enthusiastically embracing the petition and forcing the legislature's hand.
