The Utah Republican Party is now saying that they don’t have enough time to make the changes called for in the County My Vote compromise legislation, known as SB54.
Utah GOP Chairman James Evans says SB54 does not give his party long enough to change its bylaws and constitution to fit the new definition of a qualified political party.
“Governing documents, as they are written, allow us one convention a year," he says. "That’s just one convention and it’s not guaranteed that that will be enough time.”
He says if the state GOP had been involved in the initial SB54 compromise they would have never supported a 2016 implementation date.
“Why such a tight deadline? Why this artificial deadline of implementation by 2016? To me, that’s the real question.”
If the party is unable to meet the requirements of becoming a qualified political party by the September 30, 2015 deadline, then they would not be able nominate candidates for the 2016 general election at a party convention.
In a statement sent to KUER, Count My Vote executive chair Rich McKeown says the Republican Party has had, and will have, adequate time to comply with the new law and any decision not to, could only be interpreted as poor leadership.
The Utah Republican Party is currently suing the state over constitutional regulationsthat govern how party candidates are selected.
