Approval voting is officially on the agenda in the Utah House of Representatives. Representative Adam Robertson (R- District 63) has introduced HB0174, initially titled ‘Municipal Instant Runoff Voting Amendments,’ during the 2021 general session of the Utah State Legislature. This bill amends a previous law allowing municipalities to opt-in to a trial period using instant runoff voting, otherwise known as ranked choice voting, for their general elections. The amended law would allow municipalities to choose to use approval and STAR voting as well as ranked choice voting in their future elections.

Allowing cities the option to use approval voting for their municipal elections is vital for helping citizens to choose the most qualified, most representative candidates for their city governments. It also allows citizens to become familiar with the new voting method, and gives government officials interested in voting reform on a larger scale the ability to examine how the system operates.

Approval voting is already in use in the cities of Fargo, North Dakota and St. Louis, Missouri, and there are approval voting organizations across the United States advocating for the implementation of the improved voting method in states and municipalities across the nation.

To help implement approval voting in Utah, volunteer with or and contact your representatives to support the bill. Alternatively, contact your local city council and ask them to indicate their support for HB0174 to the state legislature.