Voting

Utah Thrives Podcast | Civic Engagement

Written by: Peter Reichard

The measures of civic engagement in Utah reveal a mixed bag. That’s the conclusion of a new Utah Foundation report called The The Measure of a Citizen: Civic Engagement in Utah. It’s the first installment in our new Utah Social Capital Series. And the findings of the report raise a lot of questions. Utah Foundation Senior Analyst Christopher Collard and President Peter Reichard explore those questions in this edition of Utah Thrives, the Utah Foundation … Continued

When it comes to civic engagement in Utah, it’s a mixed bag

Written by: Peter Reichard

Going back 200 years, strong citizen engagement in the democratic process and in civic improvement has served as a barometer of the vitality of the American republic. It’s a matter of good government: At the state and local levels, civic engagement has significant implications for the effectiveness and efficiency of government, the quality of services and the responsiveness of public officials to citizen priorities. A decline in civic engagement can reduce the accountability of the … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast: A New Census Brings a New Round of Redistricting

Written by: Peter Reichard

In this episode of Utah Thrives, Utah Foundation Research Analyst Christopher Collard and President Peter Reichard discuss the new Utah redistricting statute and the challenges of redistricting in our state. The conversation follows Utah Foundation’s release of a new brief on redistricting and an interactive citizen redistricting tool.  

Op-Ed: The turn of the decade brings political redistricting. It’s not as simple as it sounds

Written by: Peter Reichard

It’s a new decade, and that means it will soon be time to play everyone’s favorite political game, redistricting. This time, however, it comes with a new player in Utah: a redistricting commission armed with a set of principles for redistricting. The commission and principles come compliments of a citizen referendum approved in 2018, with legislative changes in 2020. The recently approved legislation calls for the creation of a seven-member redistricting commission to draft and … Continued

Utah Thrives: 2018 Election and Utah Politics

Written by: Dan Bammes

Utah has just completed a remarkable midterm election, with high levels of voter participation. Some hotly contested candidate races and strong interest in several ballot initiatives helped to drive that high turnout. We’ll hear from Justin Lee, the elections chief in the office of Utah’s lieutenant governor. Brigham Young University’s Adam Brown, Associate Professor of Political Science, was the featured speaker at Utah Foundation’s annual luncheon in October. We’ll hear his thoughts on what makes … Continued

There are No Easy Answers on the Question of Voter Turnout

Written by: Peter Reichard

  At a year-end meeting this month, Utah Foundation’s board members ranked our findings for 2017. Two of the top-ranked findings pertained to voter turnout. The issue of voter turnout came up a few days later over lunch with a friend who wanted to explore ways to boost the numbers in Utah. Meanwhile, statewide, two separate groups have been gathering signatures for ballot initiatives to rethink the way we elect our candidates, both with an … Continued

Looking Back on 2017: The Top 5 Findings

Written by: Peter Reichard

Each December, Utah Foundation’s Board of Trustees gathers to look back over the previous year’s accomplishments. As part of the review, the board ranks the year’s research findings based on which findings they found most remarkable. The following are the top 5 findings of 2017. Number 5: Despite experiencing below-average unemployment rates for the past four years, wages were not increasing as expected in a tight labor market. In May 2017, Utah Foundation released Help … Continued

Utah Thrives – Voter Participation

Written by: Dan Bammes

Utah once had one of the highest rates of voter participation in the country, but today it’s dropped to 39th among the states. Utah Foundation has been studying the issue of voter turnout for quite a while, and a new research brief shows the situation isn’t improving. In this edition of Utah Thrives, Utah Foundation President Peter Reichard and Vice-President Shawn Teigen offer their thoughts on the factors associated with low participation, including uncompetitive elections. … Continued