We are fortunate in Utah to have the Municipal Alternative Voting Methods Pilot Project, which allows cities and towns to opt in to testing alternative voting methods. Currently the only option is instant-runoff voting, better known as ranked-choice voting. So far, there have been mixed reviews from various municipalities that have tried it: some, such as Vineyard, love the system and want to continue using it, while others such as Sandy will probably not opt to continue after issues with costs, voter education, and unintuitive results. 

Despite some recent setbacks and public opinion starting to turn against ranked-choice voting in Utah, there is fortunately another promising option on the horizon. Approval voting is another alternative method which allows voters to vote for all candidates that they approve of, with no need for rankings, costly software, or longer ballots. Approval voting carries almost every benefit of ranked-choice voting, including reducing the temperature, encouraging candidates to appeal to each others' supporters, and making room for third parties without spoiling the election, but without the aforementioned downsides! HB176 would add approval voting to the pilot project - in our view, a pilot project isn't very comprehensive with only one option, so we strongly support allowing for local control on this matter. Our partners at Utah Approves have a lot to say about this topic, including extra data, analysis, and FAQ. Check out their website for more information on the policy and to send a letter to your legislators in support of approval voting today!