Does Utah caucus system shortchange women?

SALT LAKE CITY — This Saturday, when some 7,000 delegates gather in downtown Salt Lake City for the Utah state Republican and Democratic conventions, a large bloc of voters will find themselves sorely under-represented in the process.

They comprise 48 percent of registered Republican voters and 65 percent of those who call themselves Democrats.

The demographic that will be shortchanged in winnowing the fields of political contenders down to the fall candidates whose names appear on ballots? Women.

While women make up roughly half the Republican voters in the state, they'll be outnumbered 3-to-1 by men at their convention gathering. Democrats are doing better but are still far short of parity with voters, with only about 43 percent female delegates.

First-time GOP delegate Kristen Jowers said she believes more women aren't involved in party caucuses because they just don't have the time.

"I hope that I don't sound sexist when I say this, but I think few women are represented here because we're very busy mothering or juggling careers," said Jowers, a stay-at-home mother of five.

Since being elected as the only female delegate in her North Salt Lake precinct, Jowers said she's spent two or three hours a day studying candidates.

"I take it very seriously," she said. Jowers said she feels responsible for representing the views of those in her precinct who don't have a vote at the state convention.

Jowers wanted to be a delegate because she realized that was the only way she'd have a voice in the contentious race for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Bob Bennett.

"Especially as a woman, and knowing I would be under-represented," she said. "I feel women are often under-represented in our state politics."

Jowers said women tend to be more concerned than men about issues that affect family life, including education and health. "That's our role."

Just days before the convention, she said she's narrowed her choice to between two of the eight Senate candidates, but she declined to name the pair.

Her husband, University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics director Kirk Jowers, said the low number of women delegates demonstrates how the caucus system fails to represent Utah voters.