Democrats changing some delegate rules

The Utah Democratic Party is making slight changes to its process for selecting delegates to send to the party's national convention.

Most notably, the delegates will be chosen based on turnout in the state's presidential primary on Feb. 5, 2008, according to executive director Todd Taylor. The 24 available delegate slots — there are a total of 29, but five are reserved for party leaders — will be distributed to each of the three congressional districts based on their percentage of voters.

The party is also putting in some accountability standards, such as a paper record and audit procedures, for voting systems used to determine the delegate distribution.

The state is "doing surprisingly well" in those areas, Taylor said, and it should not pose a problem.

A draft of the plan is available through the party's Web site, www.utdemocrats.org. Public comment on the system is due by April 25.