SB 54 Survey Questions

Dear Fellow Republican,

As you know, the Utah Republican Party has some important decisions before us relating to the passage of Senate Bill 54
in the 2014 Utah Legislative session. In order to assess the opinions and wishes of Utah Republicans, I am asking that
you complete this survey in response to SB 54 and the changes our party will have to make to comply with its
requirements. There has been considerable discussion amongst Party members over a number of proposed ideas related
to party membership, candidate support, etc. Some of these ideas have made headlines; others have not been so widely
disseminated. For this survey, we have not eliminated any of these ideas because as a Party, we're committed to public
debate on all ideas and through that process we end up with good solutions, even if the process is sometimes a little
messy.
Please complete this survey and return it to the Party in the self-addressed stamped envelope as quickly as possible. We
are compiling this information for our May 30th State Central Committee meeting. Thank you in advance for your
responses and support of the Utah Republican Party.
Sincerely,

James M. Evans
Chairman
Utah Republican Party

Choosing a Path (Question 1)

SB 54 mandates that candidates be selected in a primary contest in order to appear on the general election ballot. It
allows political parties to choose one of two ways to have their candidates appear on the ballot:
Qualified Political Party Route (QPP) This route allows a member of the Republican Party to run for partisan public
office either through the caucus/convention system, or by gathering signatures of Republican and unaffiliated voters in
that district, or they can choose to utilize both options. If the candidate is successful in either effort they will appear on the
primary ballot. The QPP route mandates at the very least that we open our primary to unaffiliated voters, although voters
registered in other political parties may be barred from voting in the UTGOP primary.
Registered Political Party Route (RPP) This route allows a member of the Republican Party to run for partisan public
office only through a direct primary by gathering the required number of signatures. The RPP route allows the Party to
have a closed primary.
1.) Which path should the Utah Republican Party choose?
A.) Qualified Political Party (QPP)
B.) Registered Political Party (RPP)
C.) Not sure

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Legal Challenge (Question 2)

SB 54 was a compromise reached by the Utah legislature and Count My Vote. The Utah Republican Party was not a party
to the compromise, and we filed a legal challenge in federal court on the grounds that SB 54 violated our constitutional
rights. The Utah Republican Party's position has always been that we are a private organization and the state does not
have the constitutional authority to reach in and mandate the specifics of how we select our nominees for various elected
offices who represent our political platform on the general election ballot. With this in mind, the prudent approach is to
obtain constitutional clarity and legal certainty on this matter. Under the current schedule, the court is not expected to
decide the ultimate questions in the case itself until January 2016. The judge denied the Party's motion for a preliminary
injunction, in part, because we had not yet selected one of the paths (QPP or RPP). If the Party chooses the QPP route, it
will then ask the court to impose a stay on the provision of SB 54 that mandates an open primary.
Should the Utah Republican Party continue its legal challenge against SB 54?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure

Party Membership (Questions 3 - 5)

Under SB54, candidates are not prohibited from serving as officers in other political parties. We can remedy this by
changing our Party membership requirements so that candidates may not hold office in another political party.
3.) Should a Republican candidate be prohibited from being a member or an officer in another registered political party?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure
For many years, the Utah Republican Party has required candidates to sign a platform disclosure statement indicating
whether they support the Party platform. The platform is a document that lists the Party's beliefs and principles including
limited government, free markets and family values. To view the Utah Republican Party platform, please visit:
www.utgop.org/about.asp#five
Candidates may also identify any part of the platform with which they disagree, and suggest changes. Under SB 54, there
is no requirement for candidates who gather signatures to sign a platform disclosure statement. We can address this by
requiring candidates to sign a disclosure statement as a condition of UTGOP membership.
4.) Should all Republican candidates, regardless of whether they go through the caucus convention system or collect
signatures, be required to sign a platform disclosure statement?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure
At least one county party organization currently requires candidates who plan to run as a Republican to meet with the
county Party in order to be qualified to run as a Republican.
5.) Should Republican candidates be required to meet with the Republican Party in order to officially run as a Republican?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure

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If you answered yes, please identify in the comments section below what should be discussed in that meeting
and who should conduct it.

Candidate Support (Questions 6 - 11)

In this section, we are asking you to help us determine whether we should offer resources only to candidates who go
through the caucus convention system, or if we should also offer resources to candidates who gather signatures through
the petition route. In addition, we are seeking your feedback as to whether the Party should endorse candidates in primary
races or remain neutral.
6.) Should the candidates who only go through the caucus convention process have access to the Partys resources?
These resources include the Partys e-mail list, its discounted postage rate, data tools and Party volunteers.
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure
7.) Should candidates who go through the caucus convention system and gather signatures through the petition route
have access to the party's resources? These resources include the Partys e-mail list, its discounted postage rate, data
tools and Party volunteers.
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure
8.) Should candidates who only gather signatures through the petition route have access to the party's resources? These
resources include the Partys e-mail list, its discounted postage rate, data tools and Party volunteers.
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure
9.) Should the Party endorse candidates during the primary?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure
If you answered "yes" to the previous question, please answer questions 10 - 11. If you answered "no" to the
previous question, please skip to question 12.
10.) If the Republican Party chooses to endorse candidates in the primary, who should the endorsement be available to?
A.) Candidates who only go through the caucus convention system
B.) Candidates who go through the caucus convention system and gather petition
signatures
C.) Candidates who only gather signatures through the petition route.
D.) Not sure

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11.) If the Party chooses to endorse candidates, should we:

A.) Limit the endorsement to one candidate per race
B.) Make endorsements available to more than one candidate per race

Caucus Convention Threshold (Questions 12 - 13)

In this section, we are asking you to help us determine if we should change our convention threshold. Prior to
SB 54, if a candidate received at least 60 % of the convention vote, they became the Party's nominee on the
general election ballot, without running in the primary. Under SB 54 if the Party selects the QPP route
candidates may choose to run at the Partys convention or gather signatures to earn a place on the primary
ballot. By changing the convention threshold more candidates may choose to run at the Partys convention to
earn a place on the primary ballot.
12.) Should the Party change the convention threshold to allow more convention candidates to proceed to the primary
ballot?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure
13.) If you answered yes to question 12 what is the minimum percentage of the delegate vote should a candidate receive
at convention to earn a place on the primary ballot?
A.) At least 20%
B.) At least 25%
C.) At least 30%
D.) At least 35%

Plurality (Question 14)

Under SB54, a Republican candidate could become the Party nominee with only a plurality of the vote. For example, the
eventual Republican nominee may receive as little 10 % or 15 % of the vote if many Republican candidates run in the
primary.
14.) Should the legislature amend SB54 and require that a candidate secure a majority vote in order to become the
nominee?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure

Open Primaries (Question 15)

SB 54 opens the Republican primaries to unaffiliated voters for QPP. For your reference, there are roughly 600,000
registered Republicans and 500,000 registered unaffiliated voters. Some people argue that this will boost voter
participation by allowing unaffiliated voters to be a part of the process, while others argue that this will make it more
difficult for candidates to reach this wider audience, and allow non-republicans to choose the Partys nominees.

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15.) Should the Republican Party open its primary to unaffiliated voters as well as registered Republicans?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure

Candidate Fees (Question 16)

16.) Should the Republican Party charge its candidates a fee to help defray the costs of complying with SB-54?
A.) Yes
B.) No
C.) Not sure

Loss of Membership (Question 17)

17.) If a Republican candidate chooses only to gather signatures through the petition route, avoiding the caucuses and
convention, should that candidate lose their membership in the Utah Republican Party?
A.) Yes
B.) No

Political Ideology (Question 18)

18.) How would you describe your political ideology?
A.) Very Conservative
B.) Conservative
C.) Moderate
D.) Liberal
E.) Very Liberal

Gender (Question 19)

19.) What is your gender?
A.) Female
B.) Male

Age (Question 20)

20.) What is your age group?
A.) Between 18 - 30
B.) Between 31 - 43
C.) Between 44 - 56
D.) Between 57 - 69
E.) 69 +

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Additional Comments (Question 21)

21.) If there are any questions or issues that you feel have not already been addressed in this survey, please let us know.
We would appreciate any additional feedback and insight as we continue to contemplate these potential changes.

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