Lawmakers may not be able to come up with a proposal during the legislative interim to prevent a candidate from winning a primary election without a majority vote, a co-chairman of a committee studying the issue said Wednesday. “This one is an interesting one because we could do nothing and just see how things shake out in 2016,” Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan, said after the Government Operations Interim Committee’s first hearing on the possibly of plurality. Draxler, the committee’s House chairman, said he’d be surprised if members can come to a consensus on how to handle the issue created by SB54, the compromise reached to stop the Count My Vote initiative that sought a direct primary.
The controversial legislation allows candidates starting in 2016 to bypass the state’s unique caucus and convention system for choosing nominees and instead gather voter signatures to qualify for a spot on the primary election ballot.
But with more than two candidates on the ballot, the top vote-getter in the primary may end up becoming a political party’s nominee with only a plurality of the vote, not the majority.
Full Article: Lawmakers may not agree on how to handle election plurality | Deseret News.