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SALT LAKE CITY — A year ago, lawmakers reached an agreement that halted an initiative drive to replace Utah's unique caucus and convention system for nominating candidates with a direct primary election.
Now, with a lawsuit filed over the compromise legislation by the Utah Republican Party, there is a quiet push by some in the 2015 Legislature to alter or even scrap the deal made with the leaders of the Count My Vote initiative.
Initiative leaders, including Republicans like former Gov. Mike Leavitt, are actively fighting those rumblings even as key lawmakers insist no significant changes will be made to the compromise that allows an alternative path to the primary ballot.
Starting in 2016, candidates would be able to earn a spot on the primary ballot by gathering voter signatures or participating in the current system, where delegates selected at party caucus meetings have the power to choose nominees.
"The state is ready for a change," Rich McKeown, executive co-chairman of Count My Vote, told the Deseret News and KSL editorial board recently, calling attempts to alter the compromise "an effort to retain power and control" over elections.
The stated intent of Count My Vote has always been to increase voter participation by making primary elections more competitive in the GOP-dominated state where many races are all but decided by delegates at party conventions.
"The problem that really underlies this is getting worse," Leavitt told the editorial board. "In the last general and primary elections, we had woefully low turnouts. We've gone from a state that was among the highest to among the lowest."
McKeown said at the time the compromise was reached, the initiative drive was close to earning a spot on last November's ballot. He also pointed to polls showing Utahns strongly support an alternative to the caucus and convention system.
In December, a UtahPolicy.com poll by Dan Jones & Associates showed 62 percent of Utahns favored the Count My Vote effort and 55 percent wanted lawmakers to keep the compromise intact.
The Legislature's Republican controlled House and Senate appear to be listening.
"It is my belief the Legislature will hold to the agreement that was entered into last year," said Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, the sponsor of the 2014 compromise legislation, SB54. "It's a matter of legislative integrity."
And House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, said he's not looking to re-negotiate SB54 this session. "A deal's a deal," Hughes said. "I'm comfortable with the compromise I signed up with."
But the House sponsor of that legislation, Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said he has a bill file open this session to possibly give the state GOP a waiver on meeting the requirements to participate as a qualified political party in the 2016 election.
McCay said giving the party more time to comply with the new law is a better idea than delaying the implementation of the new primary system until 2018, something state Republican Party Chairman James Evans wants.
"I'm not in the job of running party business or doing party management," McCay said, describing the waiver idea as a way to address the party's immediate concerns without violating the spirit of SB54.
Under SB54, political parties can agree to a number of provisions including opening their primary elections to unaffiliated voters and continue to use the current caucus and convention system to nominate candidates.
Evans said the party would have to make some two dozen changes at its August convention to become a qualified party able to put candidates with enough delegate support at party conventions on the ballot.
"We're going to try as hard as we can," Evans said, but lawmakers need to know that might not happen. There's just a human reality. While we will do our best, if that’s not done, that’s why a prudent action would be to delay to 2018."
He said granting the party a waiver for the 2016 election could be "one consideration for a fix" or lawmakers could "just keep everything as is and the lawsuit works it way through."
A hearing in federal court on an injunction sought by the party against SB54 was delayed Wednesday until after the legislative session ends, Evans said, in case there are changes made to the law.
The GOP's lawsuit claims SB54 violates the party's constitutional protections, including the rights of Republicans to determine who can vote in their primary elections. Currently, only registered Republicans can vote in a GOP primary in Utah.
Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, already has two bills this session to make it clear who's in charge of political parties.
SJR2 would amend the Utah Constitution to prohibit any infringement on a party's ability to select nominees, effectively gutting the compromise, while SB43 would allow a party to close a primary election to unaffiliated voters.
"The way I look at it, I didn't make any deal. A few others felt like they made a deal, but I didn't," Jenkins said. "The Republican Party and the delegates certainly didn't make a deal."
McCay said many Republican lawmakers "feel like they feel like we owe the public this compromise. The support has been mixed, obviously. On the very partisan side, there hasn’t been a lot of excitement for it."
Still, McCay said, he's "been amazed behind closed doors how many in the party even say, 'You know, maybe this isn’t so bad.' I get that actually a lot. I get a lot of people saying, 'Hey, don’t tell anybody but we actually like what you’ve done here.'" Email: lroche@ksl.com Twitter: DNewsPolitics
