Voting & Elections

2016 Utah Priorities Project: Survey of State Party Delegates (Part III)

Written by: Mallory Bateman

The 2016 election cycle is the first impacted by changes to the candidate nomination process as a result of Senate Bill 54, passed in 2014. Since a 2016 court ruling deems that the legislation was constitutional, this new process might reduce the concern that some have regarding the differences between voters and delegates. Utah Foundation performs the Utah Priorities Project each gubernatorial election year. This is the third time that the project includes a survey … Continued

2016 Utah Priorities Project: Gubernatorial Candidate Report (Part II)

Written by: Mallory Bateman

For more information and explanation of the ideological section methodology, see Part I: Survey of Voters’ Issues and Concerns. To explore the data in more depth, please visit the Utah Priorities Project page.   The presidential race is not the only high-profile race this election season. In 2016, Utah will also vote for governor from a pool of 11 candidates. This report – Part II of the Utah Priorities Project – is a useful tool … Continued

Voting in Utah: Analyzing Current Practices and Future Options for Utah Voters

Written by: Mallory Bateman

Voter registration and participation has been on the decline in Utah in the past several decades. Although some aspects of Utah’s political arena such as the number of competitive races and the caucus-convention system are not easy for policy professionals to tackle, other aspects regarding voter registration and methods of voting are. This report examines strategies and programs that Utah is currently implementing – either permanently or as a pilot project. Research shows that employing … Continued

Millennials and Boomers: Politics and Society (Part IV)

Written by: Mallory Bateman

PART IV: POLITICS AND SOCIETY (See Part I: Demographics, Part II: Finances and Workplace Preferences, and Part III: Housing) Increased voter turnout in the 2008 presidential election helped create movement around understanding younger voters, who in previous election cycles had been thought of as an inactive group. National research has painted Millennials as a socially-conscious generation who do not identify with the two major parties. These attributes are influenced by their goals and values in … Continued

Utah Priorities 2012, Issue #8: Partisan Politics

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

In 2012, voters listed partisan politics as the 8th most important priority in the election year. This policy brief discusses party polarization over time at the national level, and party dominance at the state level. It also examines Utah’s declining voter turnout rates, and explores various explanations for this trend.

Partisan Politics, Polarization, and Participation

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

In the 2012 Utah Priorities Survey, respondents listed partisan politics as one of their top concerns for the upcoming elections.  This is significant not only because it was the first time this issue had been listed as a top-ten concern in this series of surveys, but also the first time it was seen as a concern at all.  An additional area of concern that may be affected by partisan politics is Utah’s declining voter turnout … Continued

The 2012 Utah Priorities Survey of Party Delegates and Voters

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

As part of the 2012 Utah Priorities Project, Utah Foundation and the Hinckley Institute of Politics have surveyed Utah voters and delegates to the major parties’ state conventions.  This survey was conducted for the first time in 2010, showing distinct differences between party delegates and voters, with delegates usually taking more zealous positions than their parties’ voters.  The 2012 survey also shows differences between voters and delegates, but those differences are not as pronounced as … Continued

Utah Priorities Gubernatorial Survey: A Comparison of Candidates’ and Voters’ Top Priorities for 2012

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

Utah Foundation recently released The 2012 Utah Priorities Survey, which provides a summary of the findings of a statewide Dan Jones & Associates survey assessing which issues are most important this election year and how voters feel about Utah’s economy, society and politics.  For the first time, Utah Foundation also requested that the gubernatorial candidates complete part of this survey.  All of the Republican and Democratic candidates and two of three third-party candidates completed the … Continued

The 2012 Utah Priorities Survey: The Top Issues and Concerns of Utah Voters for the 2012 Election

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

In this election year, Utahns are more confident that the state is heading in the right direction than they were two years ago. However, they are still not as confident as they were in the 2004 and 2008 elections.  Their concerns about issues like jobs and the economy, public education, and healthcare remain strong.  Some issues that were important in the 2010 election, such as ethics of elected officials, states’ rights vs. the federal government, … Continued

Nominating Candidates: The Politics and Process of Utah’s Unique Convention and Primary System

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

For most of its history, Utah has used a convention-primary system to nominate candidates for elected office. In the spring of general election years, citizens in small caucus meetings held throughout the state elect delegates to represent them at county and state conventions. At the state conventions, delegates nominate candidates to compete for their party’s nomination in the primary election, or, if a candidate receives enough votes, they receive the nomination outright and proceed straight … Continued