Voting

The Finding Of the 14 research reports released in 2025, there were a lot of key findings. The Utah Foundation’s Board of Directors selected the top 10. In 2nd place: “Voter turnout in Utah improved markedly with the adoption of universal mail-in voting, rising from 44th in 2014 to 13th in 2018. Utah may revert to among the lowest of states with the removal of universal mail-in voting scheduled for 2029.” The Details Civic engagement … Continued

Utah Voter Turnout Historically, Utah has been a state with low voter turnout. That began to change in 2014 with the adoption of mail-in voting. You can see from the graph above that turnout usually follows a cyclical pattern. Presidential election years see an average turnout of 60% from 2008 to 2024. Non-presidential elections see an average turnout of 44% from 2006 to 2022. Municipal Elections and Utah County Municipal elections (those that happen in … Continued

Preferred Maps In 2020, the Utah Foundation conducted a survey of city officials to gain insight into their perspectives on redistricting. One question offered a small sample of maps to choose from, asking respondents which redistricting option would most benefit their community. The urban/rural map was most popular, although nearly a quarter of respondents were satisfied with the status quo.  (See Figure 1.)       A Utah court required the Legislature to redraw its … Continued

City and Town Officials’ Priorities When redistricting, the Utah Legislature outlined several guiding principles. These include: Preserving communities of interest Preserving geographical or man-made boundaries Preserving the core of prior districts Minimizing the division of municipalities and counties Maximizing boundary agreement at different political levels Prohibiting the purposeful favoring or disfavoring of a party, incumbent, or candidate In 2020, the Utah Foundation conducted a survey of city officials to gain insight into their perspectives on … Continued