Utah Legislators Respond to Direct Primary Media Speculation

Subject: UTAH'S REDISTRICTING CHAIRS RESPOND TO RECENT REPORTS ON THE CAUCUS/CONVENTION SYSTEM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2011


UTAH'S REDISTRICTING CHAIRS RESPOND TO RECENT REPORTS ON THE
CAUCUS/CONVENTION SYSTEM

SALT LAKE CITY * Today the House and Senate chairs of the Utah
Redistricting Committee stated that they do not intend to divert the
committee's time to consideration of Utah's caucus/convention system.
Senator Ralph Okerlund (R-Monroe) and Representative Ken Sumsion
(R-American Fork) made the following statement:

"A recent news report has suggested that the Legislature's
Redistricting Committee will discuss changing Utah's election processes,
including the possibility of moving from a caucus/convention system to a
direct primary election system.

"As chairs of the Redistricting Committee, we have had no discussions
of this issue, we have not placed this item on the Committee's agenda,
nor do we intend to consider this issue at future meetings.

"The purpose of the Redistricting Committee is to help the Legislature
meet its constitutional duty to divide the state into congressional,
legislative, and state school board districts that are equal in
population to ensure equal representation for all citizens.  The focus
of the Redistricting Committee is completely and exclusively on
redistricting, and to conduct the redistricting process in a manner that
is fair and open.  We will resist any efforts to divert the time and
attention of the Committee to other issues."

# # #


CONTACT:

Ric Cantrell
Chief Deputy
Utah State Senate
Office: 801-538-1035
Mobile: 801-647-8944
E-Mail: rcantrell@utahsenate.org