Attending a caucus meeting refers to Utah’s neighborhood caucus meetings. Each neighborhood is apportioned into voting precincts consisting of a few blocks or about 1200 homes. More than 1700 voting precincts exist throughout the state.

Voters are encouraged to attend the caucus meeting for the political party they are registered with. During the caucus night voters will discuss and vote on who among their neighbors should represent them as delegates to the party conventions (state and county. The delegates chosen will have opportunities to vet candidates for office and ultimately vote on which candidate will represent the party in the General Election.

A delegate is a person who is chosen by their neighbors to represent their precinct at either the state or county conventions respectively. At their party’s conventions, they will vote on party governance and on which candidate the party chooses to represent them in the elections for public office.

Delegates directly influence the direction of their respective political parties and which candidates for office get to move on to the general election. Historically a candidate must receive 60% of delegate support at convention to receive the party nomination and be listed on the general election ballot. If no candidate received the necessary support then the two top vote receiving candidates would move on to a primary election among all registered voters of that party.

Senate Bill 54 (SB54) changed the process to allow those who gather a required amount of signatures from registered voters to be listed directly on the primary ballot. However, if candidates do not gather signatures, delegates voting at the convention can eliminate those who do not receive at least 40% of the vote.

Delegates play a significant role in Utah’s election process, and YOU can help elevate the voice of yourself and your neighbors. Republican Party delegates and primary voters decide much of who will ultimately win the general election since most of Utah’s State and Federal elected officials are chose by delegates at convention or in a Republican only primary.

• State delegates are directly able to influence the U.S. Senate election in Utah. Here’s a summary of their duties:

  • State delegates: Votes for federal officials (Congress, US Senate) and for state officials (Governor, and all other statewide races) and state legislators, whose districts span two or more counties. Attends the state convention.

• Verify your Voting Precinct: Identify your Voting Precinct with your home address at www.vote.utah.gov

• Determine Your Neighborhood Precinct Caucus Location:

  • The local Republican party in each county will set the location of your party’s precinct caucus. The party will list these locations at https://precinctportal.org/precinct/

• Gather Support

  • Identify other registered Republican voters in your precinct who will attend the caucus meeting and vote for you.

  • Your county clerk can supply the boundaries of your neighborhood precinct

At caucus meeting, you will have an opportunity to introduce yourself and explain why you would like to become a delegate.

Speech Techniques & Strategy:

• 20 second introduction (home, family, community, career).

• Explain why you are a Republican. Be familiar with the Utah Republican Party platform

• Why you want to be elected as a state delegate

• Promise you will put in the necessary time to fulfill the duties and represent your neighbors

• Strong close (ask for their vote)

• Time Conscience (Do not go over your allotted time)

• Arrive Early (Bring a Photo ID)

• Ensure your voters are in attendance and have brought their ID’s

• A Caucus meeting agenda will look similar to this:

  • Welcome

  • Sign-in

  • Call to order

  • Pledge

  • Read the Republican Party Platform

  • Collect Donations to the party

  • Elect Precinct Officers

  • Elect State and County Delegates

  • Ask for Election judges

• The caucus host will open the nominations and one of your supporters will need to raise his or her hand to nominate you. You can also nominate yourself in you want. Ensure your name has been nominated before a motion to close comes before the body for a vote.

• A majority is required to elect a delegate or officer.

• Instant Runoff Voting can be used. This will ask voters to rank their candidates by preference. To count these ballots, a group will count the ballots according to first preference then distribute the last place candidate’s ballots to the next preference listed on the respective ballots. (This eliminates the candidates with the fewest number of votes until you have a majority winner.)

• The ballots must be tabulated by at least three people. One person opens the ballots, another keeps a tally, and the remaining person watches the other two to ensure that the correct name is read and tallied. Others are allowed to watch if they desire.

• All election results should be announced with each corresponding vote totals.