The Utah Republican Party passed a new bylaw that would target candidates who gather signatures to get on the primary ballot.
According to the new rule, candidates who try to use the petition route will be kicked out of the party. The change would only apply to candidates in Utah’s 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts.
While it appears the bylaw would not apply to any GOP candidates who’ve already filed to gather signatures this year, it could affect future candidates.
We don't need more litigation, we need an answer and we'll wait for that. — Rob Anderson
The change was passed by a group of right-wing members over the weekend. A frustrated Utah GOP Chairman Rob Anderson called it an attempt to challenge his leadership and trigger another lawsuit over the Count My Vote compromise.
“We don’t need more litigation,” Anderson said Monday. “We need an answer and we’ll wait for that.”
The party’s appeal of a court ruling to uphold the law is pending in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
“Someone has to be the adult in the room,” said Anderson. “It’s time for me to figure out if what they passed was legal and if I can enforce it or not.”
The Lieutenant Governor’s office declined to comment on the change Monday, saying it was reviewing the new rule.
But Republican lawmakers expressed concern for the change.
“We have a law that’s on the books and we should be following it,” said acting Senate Majority Leader Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal.
“The part that really baffles me is that certain people are getting a pass for collecting signatures and others are not,” said Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, referring to the fact that the bylaw would only apply in two of Utah’s four congressional districts. “How do you do that? That’s inconsistent,” he said.
“I don’t see our party’s torn apart. There’s a minority of our party that want this. The majority of the party, I guarantee, don’t want this,” Niederhauser said.
