SALT LAKE CITY — A debate between U.S. Senate candidates Mike Lee and Evan McMullin last October was marred by disruptive audience members, leading the Utah Debate Commission to issue new recommendations for the ticketing process after it was determined that "that existing guardrails for the ticketing process are no longer adequate to ensure a peaceful debate."
According to the Commission, during the debate "supporters of one candidate conducted themselves in a disruptive manner, violating the UDC’s stated audience policies."
They also found that the audience was "weighted" in factor on one candidate, and that "portion of the audience included the disruptive actors."
This led to the Commission to do an independent internal review of the ticketing process at Utah Valley University, where the debate was held.
The review found that Senator Lee’s campaign was monitoring Utah Valley University’s online ticketing site, waited for it to go live, and subsequently "many supporters of Senator Lee reserved tickets—all tickets were gone in under two hours" according to the Commission.
To avoid this from happening in the future, the Commission made recommendations as follows:
1. A majority of audience seats will be guaranteed for host universities to distribute to students, faculty, and salaried employees.
2. Tickets for Utah citizens will be managed by a single, designated university representative to avoid inconsistencies in communication.
3. There will be controlled reserved seating for VIPs and campaigns, based on venue and availability.
4. The UDC will proactively announce the day and time when public tickets will become available.
5. Our partner universities will create a plan to enforce Commission audience guidelines and address and control unruly outbursts.
These recommendations were made to ensure a "peaceful debate" and so that "all involved parties, from the universities to the campaigns, operate from an equal footing."
