One of the pioneers of Utah’s municipal alternative voting methods pilot program is opting out of the program in its final year.

In a special session Thursday, the Vineyard City Council voted not to renew ranked-choice voting in its elections, prior to the pilot program’s end on Jan. 1, 2026. The decision came following a discussion over the effectiveness of the voting method.

Passed by the state Legislature in 2018, the program offered Utah cities a chance to move away from traditional voting and try something new. Vineyard and Payson were the first cities to opt into the ranked-choice voting program in 2019. Vineyard participated in it again in 2021 and 2023.

In ranked-choice voting, voters rank members of the ballot in order of preference, and a candidate wins if they get the majority of first-choice votes. If no one seizes a majority, the last-place candidate is eliminated and their votes are redistributed until a candidate receives the majority.

In Vineyard, there was one candidate pool for multiple open city council seats, so the process was whittled down until enough candidates to fill the council seats reached the majority and were elected.

During Thursday’s meeting, City Councilwoman Mardi Sifuentes said she recognized the benefit of ranked-choice voting but explained she wanted to move away from the system, citing concerns with the instant runoff and how the redistribution system may not weigh each person’s votes evenly.

Councilman Jacob Holdaway was against it, citing he prefers a traditional system where a primary is held, while Councilman Brett Clawson opposed it because of the contention he saw it cause in the community.

“I’ll vote against it as well, but it’s not because I think ranked-choice voting is bad. I actually prefer it, but I do think that the community is very divided on it,” Clawson said. “And I also see the state having acted, and I also see it was a pilot to begin with, which, to me, implies experiment. And the point of an experiment is to gather data and learn. And I wonder, what is the value of one more run at it before the experiment ends?”

Mayor Julie Fullmer expressed her support for the program, though she ultimately aligned with the council in a unanimous vote not to renew it.

“I think it’s interesting when we’re talking about incumbents and challengers, because ranked-choice voting is an opportunity for (voters) to have to move outside of the name recognition.” she said. “You get to rank your people instead of just voting for one person or two people, whatever the seats are that are open.”

Lehi, Springville, Woodland Hills, Elk Ridge, Genola and Goshen are other Utah County cities that have tried the ranked-choice voting program. The state had a record-high 22 cities opt into the program for the 2021 election, but that was scaled back to 12 cities in 2023.

Lehi did ranked-choice voting the last two elections but will not renew it in 2025, a city spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Herald.

In lieu of ranked-choice voting, Vineyard City Recorder Pamela Spencer said if the city goes forward with a traditional election instead, it will determine whether to conduct a primary after the candidate declaration period, which is in June.

She added there are currently 6,800 registered voters in the city, and there is a push to increase that tally prior to elections.

Council authorizes bond, barring stipulations

The Vineyard City Council authorized the issuance and sale of sales tax revenue bonds to build a new city center in a 4-1 vote Thursday under the stipulation that the city will hold a May 14 public hearing on the bonds and that the matter will be expanded for discussion and action by the council before the bonds are sold.

A new city center is needed to address the rapid growth of Vineyard, said Mayor Julie Fullmer, and is planned to be built in “Utah City,” a 700-acre master-planned development in the works.

The bond, which will be issued to the financial advisory firm Lewis, Robertson, Burningham, will be up to $35 million, with an estimated 25- to 30-year payment option.

“We need places for our staff, resources and facilities so we can continue to operate as we go,” Fullmer said. “This is a really creative, great situation in our community that we can look into more and make sure it’s an affordable opportunity for us. But it’s definitely something we need because we are in little alcoves and hallways and three and four and five people in a room.”

Though the council approved the bond – with the stipulations — concern about the specifics of the bond payments was expressed.

“I don’t want to just approve it without understanding what our payments are,” Sifuentes said. “I want there to be a process. Can we vote to have something on the agenda to have an update on this so we are fully aware of what we’re doing?”

“I’m comfortable with the parameters,” Clawson added, “but I’m not 100% there for actually selling the bonds without seeing more details on not just the bond structure but on how it affects the city’s operations.”

However, the council members — aside from Holdaway, who is against building a new city center — came to an agreement with the stipulations attached.

“The stipulation gets the ball rolling; my understanding is we’ll come back to the city council on May 14 and present the numbers,” Vineyard Deputy Building Official Brad Hardman said. “If the city council likes it, we will continue chugging forward.”