A new report from the Center for American Progress gives Utah's political system and government an above average grade, but there's ample room for improvement.
The report ranked states in three categories: accessibility of the ballot, how representative that state's government is and what curbs the state has put in place to curb the influence of money in the political system.
Utah received very high marks for ballot accessability, coming in 4th overall and receiving an A- grade.
However, Utah came in near the bottom (42nd place) for how representative state government is in relation to the overall population. That low score earned the state a D- grade. The state was among the lowest scoring in the category for how gerrymandered legislative districts are toward Republicans, putting Utah in the same category as Kansas, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Utah was also among the worst performing states for female and minority representation in government.
The state also got dinged for their campaign finance laws, receiving an overall C- grade. Utah allows unlimited donations from individual donors while offering no public campaign financing.
