Senate adopts pilot for ranked-choice municipal elections with sunset and counting safeguards

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate voted to adopt a substitute for House Bill 35 to allow municipalities to opt into a pilot program using ranked‑choice (instant‑runoff) voting.

Proponents argued the pilot—limited in scope and time—would ensure winners command a majority in multi‑candidate municipal contests and allow the state to gather data before broader adoption. Senator Stevenson and other supporters said the bill is permissive (municipalities must opt in) and includes a sunset provision and reporting requirements so the Legislature can review the experiment’s outcomes.

Opponents, including Senator Bramble, said concerns about counting algorithms and the possibility of producing unintended outcomes for partisan contests remain; they stressed the academic literature shows ranked‑choice systems can advantage factions under some circumstances. On the floor, senators negotiated a shorter pilot term than the originally proposed 10 years and corrected date references across the bill’s text.

The Senate approved the substitute and related amendments under suspension of the rules and moved the bill forward; sponsor and committee leaders framed the measure as a municipal option and data‑gathering pilot rather than a statewide mandate.

What’s next: The substitute will be returned to the House for further consideration and, if both chambers approve, municipalities would have the option to opt into the pilot and the Legislature would monitor results and data collected during the sunset period.