How we stay neutral

The Utah Ledger takes no side in any election, on any ballot measure, or in any dispute between parties. Here is what that means in practice, so you can hold us to it.

The same treatment for every candidate

The same sections. Every candidate page has the same layout: the office, everyone on the ballot for that seat, and links to official sources.
Ballot order. Candidates are listed in the order the state certified them, never by party, polling, name recognition or how many readers click.
Party only as the ballot lists it. We print the party name from the official ballot and never add our own labels such as “moderate,” “radical” or “establishment.”
No endorsements. We don't endorse candidates, parties or ballot measures, and we don't run opinion pieces or editorials.

Every fact has a source

Facts link to the record they came from: ballots, certifications, votes, filings, minutes and official pages.
A candidate's own words are labeled. When biography or positions come from a candidate's statement or campaign, the page says so, and we don't repeat them as our own claims.
Ballot measures: we publish the official ballot title, what a yes and a no vote do, and the arguments for and against as written by their authors, named and attributed.

Plain words, attributed claims

Headlines say what happened, not who is right.
What a person or party says is attributed to them. We don't describe anyone's motives and we don't use either side's favored terms or loaded verbs.
In a dispute or a race, each side's position is given as fairly as the records allow, and neither is cast as the foil for the other.
Our AI writer follows these rules in every draft, and a human reviews the coverage. See how we use AI.

Where our coverage is uneven, and what we do about it

Some candidates have more public records than others. Sitting officeholders have recorded votes, sponsored bills and official portraits. Challengers, who include candidates from every party, often have only their ballot listing and a short statement. That gap follows who already holds office. It does not follow party, and we don't treat it as a reason to say less about anyone.

A missing portrait or biography means we have not yet found a source we are allowed to use. It says nothing about the candidate.
We add sourced biographies for challengers the same way as for officeholders, and our election guide links the official voter information for every race.

Who is behind the site

The Utah Ledger is owned and published by Paul Ivinskas. It is not connected to any party, campaign, candidate or government agency, and it takes no payment for coverage. More about who publishes it.

If you see slant

Tell us. Send the page link and what looks one-sided through the contact form. We review every report, fix what is wrong, and list the change on the corrections page.