Salt Lake City - On Sep 18th, Utah Democratic Party Vice-Chair Oscar Mata accepted an invitation to present to the Utah Legislature’s Government Operations Interim Committee, and traveled to the Utah State Capitol to defend the right of every Utahn to cast their vote in a Presidential Primary.  

However, the Republican Supermajority voted to block any discussion of how their party restricted access to the ballot box - the second time in as many months that the Republican Party has dodged accountability for refusing to allow Republican voters to participate in a secure, mail-in, presidential primary. 

Less than 10% of Utah Republicans were able to cast their ballots in the Republican presidential contest. Meanwhile, nearly 30% of Active, Registered Democrats were able to cast their votes in the secure, mail-in Democratic primary. That the turnout rate in the Republican presidential contest was comparatively so low, despite the fact that the Republican presidential contest was much more competitive than the Democratic presidential contest, suggests that many Utah Republican voters were either unwilling or unable to participate in the mishandled Republican Caucus. 

“If Republicans hadn’t voted to continue their Caucus Night Cover-Up,” UDP Vice-Chair Oscar Mata said, “I would have told them that every Utahn deserves to have their vote counted by professional election officials rather than partisan leaders. The decision by Republican Politicians to protect themselves from facing accountability for disenfranchising their own party members is unacceptable, and frankly, reeks of corruption.”