Ranked Choice Voting: The Utah Experiment and Its Conservative Roots

Bipartisan Origins of Utah's RCV Pilot

• 🤝 The Utah ranked choice voting (RCV) experiment began with a bipartisan bill in 2019, championed by both progressive and conservative lawmakers.
• 💡 Former Rep. Marc Roberts embraced RCV from his experience in Utah Republican Party caucus meetings, disliking choosing between "the worst of two evils."
• 🗳️ Former Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck saw RCV as a way to boost voter participation and electoral competition in a state often decided by a small number of primary voters.
• 🤝 Roberts and Chavez-Houck joined forces, with Roberts offering his three years of experience to co-sponsor Chavez-Houck's bill, which sailed through the state house.

Pragmatic Appeal and Conservative Support

• 🔑 Conservative proponents like Roberts, former Utah Republican Party Chair Stan Lockheart, and former Heber City Mayor Khaleim Potter saw RCV as a pragmatic solution.
• 💰 RCV was viewed as a way to improve representation, encourage civility in campaigns, and save taxpayers money, with a pilot analysis showing a 40% reduction in local election costs.
• 🏛️ Many Utah Republicans had prior experience with RCV in party caucuses and conventions, finding it an efficient method for selecting nominees.
• 🎯 RCV incentivizes candidates to appeal beyond their base, as they need to be a second choice for other voters, fostering more goodwill.

Implementation and Voter Reception

• ⚙️ Initial opposition from county clerks was overcome when Amelia Powers Gardner, Utah County's newly elected clerk, became a champion, bringing a private sector, problem-solving approach.
• ✅ Vineyard and Pleasant Grove, two conservative cities, became the first to pilot RCV, finding it easy to use and cost-effective, with minimal voter confusion.
• 📊 Surveys indicated overwhelming voter satisfaction, with 94% satisfied and 82% finding RCV easy to use, while 67% felt more likely to vote for their favorite candidate.
• 📈 A conservative think tank's report corroborated these findings, with 60% of likely Utah voters wanting RCV to remain an option.

National Politics and Pilot's Sunset

• 📉 National political pressures, particularly from the Republican Party, led to a souring of RCV's stance and a decline in participating Utah cities.
• 📢 The Republican National Committee's condemnation of RCV, coupled with criticism from figures like Trump, created partisan opposition that overshadowed local successes.
• ⚠️ Misinformation and organized opposition, sometimes fueled by national groups like ALEC, pressured local officials to abandon the pilot project.
• ⏳ Despite the pilot's sunset in 2025, proponents believe there's a large constituency that prefers RCV and hope for its eventual broader adoption.

Lessons and Future Outlook

• ⏳ Advocates emphasize the need for strategic patience, recognizing that conservative adoption often requires time and familiarity.
• 🌱 Investing in civic education and encouraging student groups to use RCV can help foster future support.
• 🤝 There is hope that as society becomes more polarized, RCV may emerge as an acceptable reform to reduce political heat.
• 📈 Efforts are underway to strike anti-RCV language from model legislation and build support within conservative circles.