The system lets voters rank a series of candidates in the general election, rather than narrowing down the choices in a primary.
Their decision comes as numerous municipalities around the Wasatch Back are weighing how to run their elections this year. Last month Park City chose to give ranked ballots a try and Heber City is slated to decide whether or not to keep the system at its meeting Tuesday, April 15.
Utah implemented a ranked choice voting pilot program back in 2018, with an expiration date of Jan. 1, 2026.
In Hideout, there was some confusion about the future of the pilot program, with the town clerk telling the council the program was extended during this year’s legislative general session.
That’s not accurate. Utah legislators declined to pass a bill that would have renewed the program for another 10 years. It remains unclear whether cities and towns that have switched to the system, like Park City, will be allowed to continue using ranked choice voting after the pilot program expires next year.
But for Hideout, that distinction is now beside the point.
During Thursday’s meeting, Councilmember Ralph Severini took a dim view of ranked choice voting, saying the system is unpopular in red states.
“In the past year, about a dozen states have totally exorcised this entire process – they’ve just written it out of even using it as a possibility within their states,” he said. “And those were mostly red states. And guess what? We live in a red state.”
Councilmember Jonathan Gunn, meanwhile, said he wouldn’t approve ranked choice voting without aggressive voter outreach.
“If we just spring this on them, I think there’s a very real chance we’re going to have chaos,” he said. “So, absent some massive voter education program, I just can’t get behind this.”
The mayor, Phil Rubin, also commented he thought it would be too short notice to make the switch.
Councilmember Chris Baier pushed back against that argument, pointing out the town council has had plenty of time to think about it since a presentation by Utah Ranked Choice Voting in February.
She said she has confidence in Hideout’s voters to understand how ranking candidates works.
“I think if you look purely economically and efficiency-wise, it really makes the most sense,” she said. “I give our community members the benefit of the doubt that they’re sharp; they’re going to be able to understand the instructions on the ballot.”
When she refers to economic benefits of ranked choice voting, that’s because the town wouldn’t need to pay for a primary election. She said eliminating a primary could also mean election results are “more representative of what the voters want.”
“I’m not afraid of trying something different for this one election,” she said. “We can see how it goes, and if we like it, we can agree in two more years to do it again, but unless we try it, we’re not going to know.”
Baier made a motion to use ranked choice voting for this year’s election, in which the mayor and two town council seats will be on the ballot. Councilmember Bob Nadelberg also supported trying the system.
The rest of the council voted no, including Councilmember Carol Haselton, who had said earlier in the meeting she thought ranked choice ballots would work as long as voters could fill them out at home.
Without a majority in favor of ranked choice voting, Hideout will stick to the status quo.
Residents interested in running for office must file declarations of candidacy and conflict-of-interest disclosures between June 2 and June 6. The number of candidates who file will determine whether the town needs to run a primary.
The general election is Nov. 4, 2025.
