SALT LAKE CITY — A recent Utah Supreme Court ruling on citizen ballot initiatives could significantly bolster a new group's plans to get a question before voters that could upend state politics.
"People 4 Utah" is planning a 2026 citizen ballot initiative to create an "open primary" system.
"In Utah, if you’re an independent voter? You are excluded from a decision in 81% of legislative races," Barbara Stallone, People 4 Utah's executive director, said in an interview with FOX 13 News on Friday.
The open primary ballot would put all candidates on a single ballot. Every registered voter in Utah would receive that ballot, and it would have everyone who is seeking that elected seat on it, Stallone said. The top two winners would then advance to the November general election.
That means it could be two Democrats, two Republicans or a mix of parties with the top two vote-getters on the ballot. Such primaries exist in other states, where they have been referred to as "blanket primaries" or derisively, "jungle primaries." But Stallone argues that moving to this system would give regular voters a bigger say in how candidates are elected, as well as forcing candidates to actually have to talk to constituents. She believes it would also advance third-parties, who have typically been blocked from getting more attention.
"What we’re looking to do is re-enfranchise the almost 600,000 unaffiliated voters in Utah," Stallone said.
The chair of the Utah Republican Party did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the idea of an open primary ballot initiative.
"We support citizen-led ballot initiatives, though we do not typically take positions on specific ballot questions," the Utah Democratic Party said in a statement.
United Utah Party Chair Ladd Johnson said he likes the idea, but disagrees with the concept of only the top two candidates advancing. Instead, he said he would prefer the top three or four candidates going to the November ballot.
"Open primaries are an improvement over where we are for sure," he told FOX 13 News.
Stallone said the top two candidates is an idea right now, and the initiative is still being worked on. The group hopes to launch signature gathering in early 2025.
The group got a significant boost from the recent Utah Supreme Court ruling on citizen ballot initiatives. In a lawsuit over the Utah State Legislature replacing a citizen initiative creating an independent redistricting commission with its own legislation, the state's top court declared that lawmakers overstepped their authority on ballot questions that reform government.
Reacting to People 4 Utah's idea, one of the plaintiffs in that case appeared intrigued by a new initiative.
"We don't have a position on open primaries, but we support one person, one vote," said Katharine Biele, the president of the League of Women Voters of Utah.
The idea of reforming Utah's election system has been attempted before. In 2014, "Count My Vote" sought to create a direct primary and end the caucus/convention system. Backers of that initiative ended up compromising with the legislature to preserve political parties' ability to have neighborhood caucuses and state party conventions. But it created the ability for candidates to gather signatures to earn a spot on the primary ballot.
The caucus/convention system has been criticized for party delegates advancing more hardline candidates that go on to lose primary elections to more moderate candidates. It happened in races this primary election cycle. But Count My Vote's executive director told FOX 13 News his group isn't exactly supportive of moving to an open primary.
"At Count My Vote, we don’t necessarily think that’s the best fit for Utah’s elections, especially given that the dual path process is working so well," said Taylor Morgan. "Now, it’s not perfect. There are some improvements we need to make."
But the signature-gathering path has faced its own fights on Utah's Capitol Hill with lawmakers repeatedly attempting to undermine the compromise (though bills to repeal it outright have failed to pass).
"We’re always ready to file a new initiative if we have to," Morgan said. "Right now we’re focused on enhancing the process that is working so really well right now."
Stallone said People 4 Utah is moving ahead with taking the open primary concept to voters across the state.
"We’re really excited about the potential that this brings to the state for people to have a meaningful vote when it comes to November," she said. "Because right now? We have a huge majority of races that are decided in April or in June. They’re decided at convention or at the primaries."
Open primaries may not be the only citizen ballot initiatives under consideration for 2026. Emboldened by the Utah Supreme Court's ruling, FOX 13 News is told that various groups are contemplating their own initiatives for liquor privatization, abortion rights and a carbon tax.
But Republican legislative leaders on Utah's Capitol Hill blasted the Court's ruling. It is possible the 2025 legislative session sees bills raising thresholds to pass a citizen ballot initiative in the future.
