I goofed up. I’m not happy about it, but yes, I admit it. I voted too early.

When I got my Democratic ballot almost a month ago I was eager to mark a box and send that sucker in. Instead of voting for the candidate I liked the best and who best reflected my values, I voted like a pundit. I tried to predict the most electable candidate.

In a fast-moving election season crowded with talented candidates, I cast my vote when there were still two debates and two state primaries/caucuses ahead of Utah’s Super Tuesday deadline. And since my vote, some candidates surged (Sanders, Biden), others faltered (Bloomberg) and some (Buttegieg, Steyer) dropped out. If, like me, you voted too early, you may have backed a horse that’s no longer even in the race, and your vote might therefore have no impact.

Ranked choice voting ensures that every vote matters. In RCV, if your preferred candidate finishes last, then that candidate is dropped and your vote is reallocated to your second choice. The ballots are then re-tallied and the process repeated until a winner is determined. Your ranked choice may not emerge as the eventual winner, but your vote will always count.

Hopefully Utah will fully adopt ranked choice voting someday. Until then, the lesson I learned was, in a race with more than two viable candidates, wait as long as you can before you vote.

I jumped the gun. Dang it.