Nevada caucus quirk may allow GOP voters to vote for Dems

The Democratic caucus will take place first on Saturday, February 20. The Washington state Republicans will send 88 delegates to their national convention in Cleveland, and the Washington state Democrats will send 119 delegates to their national convention in Philadelphia. Also, at these caucuses, attendees pass resolutions to make changes to the party platform.

“It allows people to meet and get to know their Republican neighbors”.

The Republicans’ basic message seems to be: Let us make it easy and convenient for you to caucus – but only if you are already a registered Republican.

In the right corner, a multi-billionaire who captured the attention of the media with his highly controversial statements, a world-renowned brain surgeon and four other candidates ranging from former governors to tea party senators viciously and unapologetically fight tooth and nail for the Republican nomination.

Veteran campaign strategist Donald Devine points out that these contests “are required for the first time to award their primary delegates by proportional representation where each candidate wins only the percentage of delegates he receives from the popular vote, rather than the first-place candidate winning all delegates”. “So I think it’s crucial”.

“After reviewing Nevada law, we believe that registering under false pretenses in order to participate in the Democratic caucuses for purposes of manipulating the presidential nominating process is a felony”, Lange said. Many work night shifts, thanks to the state’s thriving hotel and gaming industry, meaning that they aren’t home to answer the phone in the evening, when polling calls are typically placed.

“That’s why the IDP has always made it a priority to listen to Iowans, learn from past experiences and look for ways to improve our caucus process while preserving what makes it special and unique to our state”, she said.

Just days before Nevada’s Democratic caucus, advocates for affordable child care have released a poll showing that by a 3-to-1 margin, likely caucus-goers favor equal pay for women and paid sick days for all workers.

“Each state gets delegates based primarily on the size of the state and how many congressional districts they have”, Pope said.

First, Democratic party officials said the caucus would begin while people waited in line.

The 2004 and 2012 state presidential primaries were canceled due to budget concerns. Prior to 2008, Nevada held primaries to elect the party nominee. The local party picks a gathering spot for each of the hundreds of precincts, usually in a school, community center, church basement or some other public spot.

Washington’s presidential primary was spurred by such a coup in 1988, when Christian conservatives handed televangelist Pat Robertson a win, embarrassing the GOP establishment. Democratic turnout, admittedly in a year with a sitting president running, was even lower. Then all the delegates can do whatever they want, and the nominee will be selected the old-fashioned way, by party insiders. He now has just two speaking events scheduled, on the day of and the day prior to the caucus.

The Democratic caucus is scheduled for March 26, also a Saturday. Their presidential delegates are divvied up during the caucuses, leaving the publicly-funded May primary an after-thought. The Washoe County Republican Party went further, saying Republicans who participate in Democratic caucuses to manipulate the results would be undermining the fundamental American principle of free and fair elections.