[Editor's Note: This op-ed piece was first published in The Crossroads Journal on December 26, 2013]
Recently I attended a meeting for
the “Count My Vote” initiative, a movement that proposes to replace political
party caucuses and conventions in Utah with a direct vote to place candidates on
the ballot. Most of the people who showed up to this meeting supported
neighborhood caucuses, A few citizens, however, said their experiences with the
neighborhood caucuses left them feeling disenfranchised and disgusted with
politics.
I can understand. I’ve been there.
My first caucus meeting here was
horribly disorganized and stacked with pre-decided friends of candidates. Back
room deals were made and anyone could have easily slipped in extra ballots. The
delegates didn’t represent my opinions and were hard to contact later. Finally,
the Precinct Chair we elected stopped working after “his candidate” failed to
make it through convention.
I too could have become
disillusioned. But I didn’t. I believe that each one of us has the ability to
change our surroundings and our circumstances, if only we learn from the past
and work hard for something better. Two years later, after I got more involved,
the next caucus meeting was dramatically – and positively – different for me.
No matter what system we use, many
of us may still experience negative situations because WE are not perfect.
Human pride, selfishness, prejudice, and other vices can and often do lead to
negative outcomes in our political relationships.
But the opposite is also true. We
Americans are likewise capable of selfless service, patience, fairness,
kindness, and respect. These attributes don’t just come automatically. We have
to learn them, usually through our own experiences, but we can also learn from
those around us.
Unlike a direct primary where the
vast majority of voters study candidates and issues on their own and then show
up individually to cast their ballots on election day, the caucus system
involves neighbors in a political dialogue that accomplishes so much more than
merely casting a vote.
I know of no other nominating system
that has a greater potential to educate everyone who wants to learn, create a
consistent two-way, face-to-face communication between ordinary citizens and
their elected leaders, teach principles of representative government and
majority rule checked by law, increase voter turnout and citizen political
involvement, and hold candidates and elected officials personally accountable
for their words and actions.
Utah’s Neighborhood Caucus system is
a pretty awesome way to govern ourselves. Let’s be wary of any alternative that
would dilute or eventually replace it.
Wendi Baggaley
graduated from BYU with a degree in political science and has been involved for
many years in local and state politics. She is a homemaker residing in Eagle
Mountain City with her husband and four children. Wendi welcomes considerate
comments and discussions at wendispolitics@gmail.com.
