Emery County Republicans hosts convention

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The Emery County Repubican party recently held their convention at Huntington Elementary. Chairman Bill Dellos welcomed everyone to the event. He said this is the calm before the storm of the big election next year.
Mandi Price read the minutes from the previous convention. Dellos gave the treasure’s report.
Dellos reported his idea to purchase elephant ride tickets at this year’s county fair. The Republican party will have a picture in the Emery County Progress for children ages 1-12 to color. Winners will be chosen from each age group to receive an elephant ride at the fair. They will pick up their ticket at the Republican Booth at the fair. Dellos also requested $750 be donated to the stockshow. The trailer used for parades is being rebuilt.
The Utah Republican party is suing the state of Utah over SB-54, the County My Vote bill.
The Republican party discussed whether to change the percentage to win a caucus from 60 to 70 percent. Audience members were given time to voice their opinions and concerns. A roll call vote was taken and the party voted to keep the percentage at 60 percent.
The election of officers was held. Chairman, Bill Dellos, vice chair, Janet Geary, Secretary, Mandi Price, Treasurer, Elaine Hatch, county representative, Phil Fauver.
James Evans provided the following background information on SB 54. Senate Bill 54 was a compromise reached by the Utah legislature and Count My Vote. The Utah Republican Party was never part of the compromise and we filed a legal challenge in federal court to SB 54, on the grounds that it violated our constitutional rights. The court first heard our motion to enjoin SB 54 and the judge denied the request primarily on the grounds that it was premature. Under the current schedule, the court is not expected to decide the ultimate questions in the case itself until January 2016. You may have heard negative feedback regarding the hearing on our motion for preliminary injunction, but one of the benefits of the injunction hearing was how the judge provided guidance and feedback. He pointed out several times how, as a Party, we control how our membership is defined, suggesting that we might use that power to address the Party’s concerns about SB 54. We view these statements as very helpful in determining our pathway forward in advance of the 2016 election cycle.
SB 54 mandates that candidates be selected in a primary contest in order to appear on the general election ballot. It allows political parties to choose one of two ways to have their candidates appear on the ballot: Qualified Political Party Route (QPP) this route allows a member of the Republican Party to run for partisan public office through the caucus/convention system, by gathering signatures of Republican and unaffiliated voters in that district, or they can choose both options. If the candidate is successful they will end up on the primary ballot.
The QPP route mandates at least that we open our primary to unaffiliated voters, and any other political parties allowed by the UTGOP to participate.
Registered Political Party Route (RPP) this route allows a member of the Republican Party to run for partisan public office through a direct primary by gathering the required number of signatures. The RPP route mandates a closed primary, but the caucus/convention system is not part of the process.
As a Party we are compelled under SB 54 to choose a path, either QPP or RPP. The deadlines are Sept. 30 and Nov. 15, respectively.
The Utah Republican Party Central Committee voted on May 27 to become a Republican Qualified Political Party. Phil Fauver contributed to this article.