It seems like we’re starting to see this every election cycle in Utah:
- Utah’s legislature passes a wildly unpopular law
- Utahns start a referendum to undo that law
- The referendum gathers enough signatures to make it to the ballot
- The Utah legislature tries to fight the referendum being on the ballot and loses
- The ballot initiative passes at the voting booth
- The Utah legislature tries to tweak the ballot initiative to water it down
- Utahns take the Utah legislature to court to uphold the ballot initiative
- Utahns win, the Utah legislature loses – and nothing is learned
Just to be clear: The referendum process is not easy. It takes an incredible amount of organization and signatures. It has to be done in a very limited amount of time. And every signature is thoroughly scrutinized to ensure it’s legitimate. Utah actually has one of the most stringent and difficult referendum requirements in the United States.
Why is Utah’s legislature so scared of referendums?
So, to recap, Utah has one of the most stringent referendum processes in the United States. Yet, it is becoming a regular tool for Utahns who don’t feel represented to undo some of the Utah legislature’s most unpopular laws – which the Utah legislature seems keen on passing year after year. Moreover, the referendums are actually working. Democracy is working as it should be.
Yet, to hear Utah’s legislators tell it, the referendum process is too easy and needs to be made even more restrictive. But, does that actually make sense?
If it’s so easy, why aren’t we seeing all sorts of random initiatives make it on the ballot? And if it’s so easy, then whatever makes it on the ballot shouldn’t actually be a threat to the Utah legislature, right? After all, if these initiatives really aren’t popular, they’ll die in the voting booth, won’t they?
To be clear, referendums are a key tool for American citizens to have their voices heard. Direct democracy is always preferable to representative democracy – when it can be done. Unfortunately, it does not scale very well – thus the need for representatives in the first place. Referendums are a great compromise. They allow for people to get their policy proposals directly onto our voting ballots, where others can directly vote on them.
Yet, Utah’s legislature seems alarmed that Utahns might actually have a voice in how their state operates – even though their entire job is to represent Utahns. Is this because they’re not actually doing their jobs? Perhaps the truth is that they see the entire referendum process as a threat to their largely unchecked power.
Utah’s Republican leaders are the culprit for Utahns’ disenfranchisement
First things first: Let me check my own biases by transparently stating that I am generally on the more progressive side of the political spectrum (though I have my share of issues with the Democratic Party as well).
That said, it’s an observable fact that roughly 80% of Utah’s legislature is made up of Republicans. Republicans hold a supermajority in both the Utah House and the Utah Senate – and it’s been this way for a long time. So any blame regarding unfavorable laws and pushback against referendums sits squarely on the shoulders of Republicans in office.
To state it plainly: Utah’s Republican legislators are actively oppressing Utahns.
How to ensure Utahns have a voice
The only thing any political party truly understands is power. So the only way any political party compromises with other political parties or listens to their constituents is if they don’t have all the power.
Because of this, the only real solution to disrupting Republicans’ oppression of Utahns is to rally hard against The Republican party – at least until they’re closer to 30-40% of the legislature instead of a whopping 80%. That means voting strictly for Utah Democrats and third-party candidates over the next several election cycles.
Voting Democrat? That’s your solution? Booo!
Listen, I know the idea of voting for Democrats will sound wacky to a lot of conservatives here. But I would highly encourage you to look into the actual policies of Democrats running in your local elections.
The Democratic Party as a whole is not leftist. In fact, these days, they look a lot like the pre-Reagan Republican Party. Even Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Osacio-Cortez are barely left of center. Their most progressive “universal healthcare” plans are still built upon private industry, not the nationalization of healthcare providers.
Here in Utah, the conservatism of Democrats is even more pronounced. This is because Utah Democrats know they have to cater to conservatives if they want even a chance in hell of winning an election. Indisputably, they’ll be better at listening to us than the Republicans we keep blindly voting into office.
Don’t be distracted by identity politics
One thing that absolutely must be taken to heart is to not let unfounded fears about LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and other ethnicities and races scare you into voting for Republicans. It’s a tactic that Republican leaders use to consolidate and retain power – but their focus on social and moral issues only serves as a distraction to hide the fact that they don’t have any actual solutions to the real pressing problems all of us face.
But, here’s the truth: I’m one of the most white-bread homegrown Utahns there is. I grew up in a white, middle-class, conservative Christian family in (what was at the time) a small town in northern Utah.
But throughout my life, I have gotten the chance to know lots of people different from me. Trans people, gay people, Iranians, Mexicans, black people, and so on. And you know what I’ve found? They’re just like me. They just want to be themselves, live their lives, do good in their local communities, and help keep our country great.
Don’t let anyone twist that into something scary that gets you to vote for them. Stay focused on the real issues here: Housing, healthcare, workers rights, voting rights, and energy independence.
You don’t have to vote Dem – just don’t vote Republican!
Just to be clear, I’m not saying you should vote for Democrats. And you most certainly should not blindly vote for Democrats. There are a variety of third-party candidates out there in any given election. Find the candidates that align the most with your needs and your community’s needs as a Utahn, and vote for them!
But if we want to be heard as Utahns, if we want to reign in a government that’s growing more out of touch with us every day, we must vote against the ones who have all the power. That means voting for anyone else except Republicans.
Let’s diminish their unchecked power and influence so that maybe they’ll start listening to us again.