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Count My Vote bill approved by committee, moves on to House

Posted at 11:51 AM, Mar 03, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-03 20:16:12-05

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Count My Vote bill was approved Monday by the House Government Operations Committee, and it will now move on to the House floor.

Senate Bill 54 aims to change the way Utahns elect their leaders.

Leaders in the Utah Legislature and the Count My Vote Initiative held a press conference Sunday to officially announce compromise regarding the bill. The deal includes both the caucus convention system as well as a direct primary election.

FOX 13's Tamara Vaifanua was at the State Capitol Monday. Watch her full report on SB 54 in the clip above.

James Humphreys, media/PR chair for Protect our Neighborhood Elections--a group opposed to Count My Vote's initiative, released a statement regarding the issue Monday:

"Protect our Neighborhood Elections continues to follow the various legislation on Capitol Hill with regard to changes in our nominating process. As CMV has clearly stated they will not be stopping their efforts for the time being, we believe it prudent to continue ours. No one who signed this petition without knowing what was in it, or was deceived, should feel obligated to leave their name on the list. Naturally we encourage everyone to read what they are signing and not simply trust the people paid to convince them to sign an unread document. So far it is clear that they are much farther behind then they claim, based on what they have turned into County Clerks already. For example, in Senate 17 we can only confirm 130 signatures that have been turned in. In Senate 19 we can only see a maximum of 3015 out of 3432. In Senate 24 we can verify 474 out of 3677. In Senate 26 we can only verify 514 out of 3741 needed. In Senate 27 we can only verify 136 out of 3638. In Senate 28 we can only very 765 out of 3666. The LG’s office has yet to decide on our complaint to add to this uncertainty. The situation remains fluid and we hope caution is the name of the day on Capitol Hill and that CMV is held to prove their claims before we mover any further forward!"