On March 5, otherwise known as Super Tuesday, Republicans in 15 states, including Utah, will choose their party’s presidential nominee. Most of the states will hold a primary election. Utah’s GOP, however, will hold a presidential preference poll during the neighborhood caucuses.
Under state law, political parties can “decide to either do a state-funded and facilitated primary or a separate process. So we decided this year to do a separate process,” said party Chair Robert Axson.
When registered Republicans show up at their precinct location to select delegates for their party, they’ll also be able to submit their preference for a presidential nominee. If you’re registering to vote for the first time or are an unaffiliated voter, you can still register as a Republican. If you’re registered with another party, it’s too late to change as the deadline to switch parties was Jan. 9.
Axson said the party chose this method in part because it will “save the state of Utah between $2 and 3 million.” But, more importantly, he believes “a caucus system is one that creates wonderful opportunities for neighborhoods and communities to come together and reconnect.”
“By coming and participating in the caucus presidential preference poll, whether you're doing it in-person or voting absentee, you have the opportunity to weigh in on county delegates, on state delegates, on party’s precinct elected leadership. All of that impacts way more than just a presidential race,” he said.
For those who are unable to attend a caucus meeting, your presidential preference can still be cast in the form of an absentee ballot. This can be done by pre-registering on the state GOP’s website (which is recommended either way) and printing out a ballot. It can then be given to another person who is attending the same precinct location.
“An example of that would be like a spouse [who] stays home to watch the kids, and the other spouse goes in and votes in person and takes their non-attending spouse's ballot with them,” Axson said.
He expects the process to be as secure as regular mail-in ballots, which also have to be transported by a third party.
According to the Utah GOP, preference poll ballots will be collected from caucus meetings and counted by precinct leaders. County leadership will then review the results and send them to the state party to be tallied. Provided that a candidate gets more than 15% of the vote, they will be awarded delegates based on the percentage of votes they receive, Axson said. However, if one candidate gets more than 50% of the total votes, all the delegates will go to them.
Utah delegates will officially choose the nominee at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July.
