Words cannot describe how upset I was over the Count My Vote initiative simply bending to compromise last year. Direct primaries in Utah would have done so much good for the state. Thousands of utahns, who signed the petition, agreed with me. The movement was gaining momentum, despite attempts by legislators to stop it, the political force of so many people wanting change, change that our elected representatives voted against and tried to stop, is the essence of true democracy, and should have become law. We wanted a direct election, and the people in power fought against it. Then, when the movement brought such attention, legislators talked with Count My Vote people, and a compromise was born, instead of letting the people speak, the representatives decided to pass a law, which they are now trying to overturn.
The whole point of Count My Vote was to use the voice of the people to overrule the voting process that got a lot of ineffective, and likely corrupt, representatives in power. It failed, instead of changing Utah, it temporarily added a direct election option for running politicians, not overturning the Caucus system, and that compromise will likely soon be retracted, meaning all that work was for nothing. It's sad to me, and what we learn is that we should not compromise when so many people show support for something, and it will take a huge unification of utahns if we ever want to try to overthrow the caucus system again, and hopefully we won't compromise with our representatives again. Their purpose is to protect our interests, and they not only didn't do that, they fought against us, their constituents. Something is very wrong with this picture, yet we still elect the same legislators.
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