A poll conducted for The Salt Lake Tribune in January found that 61 percent of Utahns support a direct primary system.

The  primary elections are run by state and local governments, while caucuses
are private events run by the political parties.  None of the Utah election laws
apply to the caucus convention system, only to the primary elections.  The
number of complaints in the party nominating process has grown extensively in the
last 10 years, especially in the Republican Party in Utah.

As the number of special interest groups driving the grassroots, caucus system increases,
so does the support for a direct primary system.

I can only find three states still  using a caucus system, Iowa, Wyoming and Maine.
Wyoming and Maine, only the Republican parties use a caucus system,
while Iowa has a statewide caucus.  Each of these states use the caucus
for the Presidential selection process.  So Utah may be the ONLY state left
still using the caucus system for all elected officials.  Utah is also famous for more
corruption in the electoral process and Utah's campaign financial disclosure laws
have been ranked the worst in the nation.

(Those with more information about
states using a similar caucus convention system to the one Utah uses, please
leave comments with specific references.)

The question is, has the time come for the voters to take control of the election
process in Utah, where state election laws will apply to the process used to
elect Utah's Senators, Congressman, Governor, and all other elected officials,
or should the candidates be selected by a process determined by each party
where they set their own rules, and nominate anyone they want in any method
or process they want, whether the candidate represents the majority of the
registered members of their party or not.

In years past, Eagle Forum, the National rifle Association, Utah Education
Association, National Education Association, and Parent Teachers Associations,
were fighting for control of the caucus/ convention candidates nominated in
each party.

Since 2008, the number of special interest groups fighting for control of
the caucus delegates has dramatically increased.  Patrick Henry Caucus,
Libertarians, UFIRE, Tea Party and many others all fight for control of
the delegates.

They send representatives to the caucuses and those
representatives register at the caucus in the party affiliation of the
caucus they attend, consequently delegates are elected in BOTH
parties that really aren't concerned about the party platforms, but have
more concern about the group they belong to and getting the candidates
of their choice elected, whether the process is legal, transparent or honest
or not.

The question now is how much longer will the special interest groups
continue to hi-jack the election process for all candidates in Utah?

"Some state Republican lawmakers are privately asking whether 
the time is right for Utah to drop its system of picking candidates 
through neighborhood caucuses and political conventions in 
favor of a direct primary.. . . . . . .

Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said he has been “casually” approached 

by some colleagues about doing away with the caucus system.

“I’ve said, ‘You really don’t want to do that, especially in this environment, 

because there’s a level of distrust anyway,’ ” Valentine said, referring 

to the aftermath of the immigration debate, the public records debate and

 veto override. “Allow things to settle down some and have a rational discussion.”

by Robert Gehrke.  Lawmakers play with idea of direct primaries, Salt Lake Tribune.

Salt Lake Tribune