However, one factor more directly related to elections in Utah may indeed have an impact. Utah’s convention/caucus system for nominating candidates results in a delegate process not representative of the overall demographics of party members, producing, in some instances, candidates who are equally unrepresentative.
That much has been demonstrated by the Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan research group. It has conducted regular studies of the demographic makeup of delegates to Republican and Democratic conventions in Utah since 2010. During that time, it has recorded scant change in the percentage of women involved.
Among Republican delegates in 2016, only 24 percent were female. Among Democrats, the figure was 47 percent. However, 56 percent of overall Republican voters were female. For Democrats, the figure was 55 percent.
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