12/4/2025 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Forward Party of Utah announces that the online preference poll to fill the midterm vacancy of the departing senator, Daniel Thatcher (District 11), is now open. The digital ballots can be accessed immediately after voters receive their mailed personal codes, which are expected to arrive at most households by Friday. Voting will remain open until Thursday, December 11, 2025, at 9:00pm. Additional information can be found by visiting 11chooses.com.
This is thought to be the largest primarily digital vote to select a political officeholder in U.S. history. In the U.S., digital voting has previously been used for overseas service members, but never as the primary voting mechanism.
For voters who lose or never receive their code, alternative digital authorization mechanisms will be provided. District members can also choose to cast their ballots at in-person polling locations next week. Once cast, voters can track and verify their results.
Candidate Forum
Tonight, Thursday 12/4 at 6:30pm, the League of Women Voters will host a candidate forum for the candidates at Hunter Library in West Valley City. Links to the livestream can be found at 11chooses.com. The candidates are:
- Tynley Bean
- Maleah Bliss
- Emily Buss
- Jeff Marshall
- Jeff Saunders
Other Unique Elements
This is believed to include several first-of-their-kind reforms to how political parties conduct their candidate selection processes:
This is the first time in U.S. history that a political party has willingly expanded the voting pool beyond its party membership for a midterm replacement election. In Utah, 25% of all state legislators first gain office through a midterm replacement, a process in which only a handful of party delegates are allowed to participate.
This is the first use of Approval Voting for a state-level position (municipal elections in Fargo, ND and St. Louis, MO have occurred since 2020). Approval Voting is an alternative voting method that allows voters to select more than one candidate on the ballot.
Senator Thatcher, as well as the candidate who will replace him, is currently the only state legislator exclusively affiliated with a third party in the United States. (This statement excludes independent/unaffiliated officeholders, and some officeholders in Vermont, which permits cross-endorsements with the Democratic Party through a “fusion-ticket” system.)
The Forward Party is hosting all candidate informational materials at 11chooses.com, including professional video statements, which were provided at no cost to the candidates. This allowed the candidates to agree to a $300 maximum budget for campaigning.
Quotes
From Michelle Quist, Party Chair:
“Utahns see what’s happening with the battle over congressional redistricting - they see how those in power can bend the rules to their own advantage. Well, we’re putting power back into the hands of voters. I have every confidence that the candidate chosen will serve admirably, because that person will be free to legislate the same way Senator Thatcher always has: by listening to residents, not party bosses.”
From Phil Boileau, spokesperson for the Forward Party:
“It’s hard to break through the noise of Federal politics. And we know some people view third parties skeptically, if they hear about them at all. Nonetheless, the Forward Party has made it our mission to reinvigorate the foundations of the democratic process. 60% of Americans say they want a new political party. This is what it looks like to build that party.
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Visit 11chooses.com for more information.
A “test” ballot can be provided to members of the press upon request.
Visit utahforwardparty.org for previous press releases on this subject.
