Ranked Choice Voting

Voters in 12 Utah cities will use ranked choice for some races when they cast their ballots this year.

Riebe beat two other Democratic candidates for the party’s nomination. She will face other 2nd Congressional District hopefuls in the upcoming November special election.

Gov. Spencer Cox is calling for the Legislature to approve moving municipal election dates to accommodate a special election to replace Utah U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart.

Here’s a timeline of the major news stories that happened in Utah throughout 2021.

The latest Utah news from Wednesday evening, Nov. 3, 2021.

Tallying the results only took about 45 minutes to an hour longer than usual and there wasn’t a significant difference in voter turnout.

Ranked-choice voting lets voters choose candidates in order of preference. With approval voting, people mark which candidates they’d be ok with being elected.

Some local officials are questioning whether now is the right time for election innovation, when the majority of Republicans voters across the country have doubts about the security of the 2020 presidential election.

Rep. Mike Winder, R-West Valley City, is hoping Utah’s experiment with ranked-choice voting at the local level will pay off. He wants to resurrect legislation to bring ranked-choice voting to some statewide elections.

The latest Utah news from Thursday evening, June 3, 2021.

Utah uses a different method of ranked-choice voting than other states. Experts say Utah’s way of doing it helps out the majority party or political ideology. Tyler Jarvis, a math professor at Brigham Young University said, "If you want candidates that are identical to whatever the majority is, then you need the Utah system."

One benefit, supporters say, is higher voter turnout and enthusiasm among people of color. But others argue the research is inconclusive on whether the practice helps or hurts minority voters.