At least half the Utah cities that were planning to pilot a new voting method are backing out ahead of their 2019 municipal elections, citing complications with implementation and voter education.
These challenges appear to outweigh, for now, ambitious visions of boosting turnout and saving money through so-called ranked-choice voting.
Lehi this week became the latest city to bail out, leaving fellow Utah County cities Salem, Payson and Vineyard to decide whether to stay aboard.
“We’ve trailblazed a lot of different things,” Lehi City Councilman Mike Southwick said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I’m just not convinced that this is something that we want to be in front of.