Delegates from the Utah County Constitution Party met Saturday to send their candidates to the state convention, though some candidates were absent from the proceedings.

"This convention is important," said Tracy Davison, Utah County party chairman. "Even if there were only three of us in the room, it would be just as important."

Davison outlined his reasons for joining the party and urged delegates to consider each candidate's views before sending them on to the state convention. The Constitution Party is founded on the idea that the country has strayed from its constitutional roots and lawmakers must try to return the country's principles to their origin as a true republic, he said.

"We have drifted a long ways from this republic," he said. "Many report that we are a democracy. That was not the intent of the Founding Fathers. ... A democracy is nothing more than a mob rule, rule of the public."

Although he will not be accepted or rejected until the state convention on April 19, state auditor candidate Richard Proctor also addressed the audience. Proctor said he was originally opposed to the idea of running, but said he is contending for office in order to secure his party's place in state government.

"This is not me running," he said. "No, no, no. It's the Constitution Party running."

Proctor said his intent is to serve as an auditor who has no connection to the major parties and will owe no allegiance to anyone.

U.S. House District 3 candidate Jim Noorlander, who also will not receive delegate votes until the state convention, also addressed party members and elaborated on what he believes the Constitution Party stands for.

Noorlander, like most of the other candidates, once belonged to the Republican Party. As a state delegate, Noorlander said he walked out of the Republican state convention years ago because the party no longer represented what he stands for.

Noorlander decried the role of socialism in America, saying it cannot be promoted along with liberty. The two are diametrically opposed, he said, and socialism is responsible for child abuse, pornography, abortion, same-sex marriage and illegal immigration.

"Those are all symptoms of the disease," he said. "The disease is socialism and her ugly twin sister, communism, which both major parties now support."

The United States government must be brought back to its moral foundation, he said, the divinely inspired Constitution. Noorlander said party members should ask themselves what "the creator" has to say about what is being done. With the principles of the Constitution, Noorlander said society does not have the freedom to do what they want, but only what they ought to be doing.

"The spirit of the Lord is not in pornography," he said. "It's not in same-sex marriage."

Noorlander said the Constitution Party is now the third-largest in the United States, and members can be successful if they teach the principles of the party. If he is elected, Noorlander said he does not know if he will be a good politician, but he hopes to be a good teacher.

"We can do this," he told supporters. "We can win this election. It is possible now. It is within reach."

Michael Barron, candidate for Utah House District 56, and Feleni Siufanua, candidate for Utah House District 67, also both addressed delegates, saying they support a turn back to the principles of the Constitution. Barron said four of his ancestors fought in the American Revolution, and he would be wrong to not support the Constitution for which they fought.

Siufanua said he has been a Republican his whole life, but the current political path is going the wrong way. The Constitution is an inspired document, he said, and he wanted to do more than just write letters for the cause.

"If the flag gets dropped, I think someone should pick it up and go with it," he said.

Robert Armstrong, a candidate for Utah State Senate District 27, could not be reached to attend the convention, and Scott Swain, Utah House District 60, had prior commitments, so his speech was read by Davison.

Despite the absences, all of the candidates were unanimously approved, and Davison said he hopes that someday the party meetings will fill rooms with people.