April 2021 | Vol. 15 Iss. 04
FREE DRAPER’S NOVEMBER ELECTION WILL BE RANKED CHOICE VOTING RUN BY UTAH COUNTY By Mimi Darley Dutton | m.dutton@mycityjournals.com
D
raper’s election in November will be entirely different from past city elections. There will be no primary, voters will get to try Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), and the election will be conducted by Utah County. There’s also a possibility that people could vote via their phone. The Draper City Council was introduced to RCV in October by Stan Lockhart, former chairman of the Utah Republican Party and interim President/CEO of the Utah Valley Chamber. He told the council that republicans have used it for caucuses and that the towns of Payson and Vineyard have already run successful RCV elections. Lockhart said Amelia Powers Gardner, Utah County clerk, calls RCV “better, faster, cheaper” because the city can conduct just one election rather than a primary followed by a general election. RCV is just as it sounds. All the candidates who file by the deadline are listed on the ballot and
each voter ranks them in preference from first to last. Those statistics are analyzed resulting in the person or people with the highest percentage of votes deemed the winner(s). It’s said to reduce voter fatigue with a shorter campaign season and just one election, to be less expensive for the candidates, and to promote more collegial campaigning. “You may not be someone’s first choice, but you’d like to be their second choice, so much less negative campaigning occurs,” Draper Mayor Troy Walker said. “The council voted about two months ago to proceed with a Ranked Choice Voting election. That’s what they’ve directed the City Recorder to do.” According to Walker, he and City Manager David Dobbins met with Gardner. “We’re using Utah County primarily because the Salt Lake County Clerk isn’t adopting Ranked Choice Voting for us. Since Continued page 6
Left: Former Draper councilmember and District 51 State Rep. Jeff Stenquist sponsored H.B. 75 in the last legislative session with the goal of clarifying the terms of Ranked Choice Voting pilot projects. (Courtesy Utah House of Representatives) Right: Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said her office wasn’t equipped to run Ranked Choice Voting elections, but the county is getting certified equipment capable of doing that form of election and will now offer it to cities. (Courtesy Salt Lake County Elections)
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