Multiple historic firsts, including the biggest digital election in American history

On Thursday, December 4, 2025, polls opened for all registered voters in Utah Senate District 11, regardless of party affiliation, to select their new state senator in a midterm replacement vote organized by the Forward Party of Utah.

By Thursday Dec 11th, when polls closed, several historic outcomes were apparent:

1. Largest digital election in American history: as far as we know, this is the first time an American elected office has been decided in a majority-digital vote, open to all citizens.

   98% digital: Although anyone could opt to vote in-person on paper ballots, only 1-in-50 voters chose to.

2. Although ~25% of the state legislature first took office through midterm appointments made by party-members only, the Forward Party voluntarily opened its midterm replacement vote to all registered voters in the district, regardless of party affiliation.

3. Used Approval Voting: "Vote for all the options you approve of" - a spoiler-free, non-polarizing voting method, innovating upon Ranked Choice Voting.

   This alone is a serious historic win, as its first time being used to elect a state-level American government office.

4. Voter-verifiable results: voters can personally confirm their vote is correctly recorded in the results (+ coercion and bribery resistance). Auditors can test against ballot stuffing or fake voters.

Further details:

• Official election website: 11chooses.com
• Election plan & voting details: 11.siv.org/plan
• Party who organized the election: utahforwardparty.org
• Approval Voting: electionscience.org
• Election Results: 11.siv.org/results
• Voting Stats, including votes over time: 11.siv.org/stats
• Ballot Preview: 11.siv.org/preview
• Early reporting on results & context: utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/12/12/utahs-forward-partys-first-of-its-kind-preference-poll-picks-a-winner-to-replace-sen-thatcher/

For comments, questions, or challenges, please contact us at 11chooses@siv.org.