Yesterday I attended a training session from the 37th Legislative District Democrats on leading an upcoming caucus for my precinct (SEA-1884). I learned a lot of good information that I'd like to make sure folks are aware of:
Q. When are the caucuses?
A. The Democratic caucuses are on Saturday, February 9th. They officially start at 1:00 PM, but the directive from the state party is that the actual caucusing may not start until 1:30 PM at the earliest to allow folks time to show up.
Q. What are the requirements to attend the caucus?
A. You must be a registered voter residing in the precinct caucus you attend. If you are under 18, you may caucus if you will be age 18 by the date of the November election.
Q. Can I attend another precinct's caucus if I can't attend my own (due to move or other reason)?
A. No. You must attend your precinct's caucus.
Q. Where will my caucus be held?
A. Final locations are being determined this week. By the middle of next week there should be a page on the Washington State Democratic Party's website, where you can enter your address and find out your caucus location.
Q. I cannot make the date/time of the caucuses? Can I vote absentee or have someone else vote for me?
A. No. With limited exceptions, you must be present to vote at the caucus. The exceptions are for people who cannot attend due to military service, medical reasons, or religious restrictions. For those people, you must complete a Surrogate Affidavit Form and submit this to the state Democratic party office no later than February 1, 2008. These forms will be recorded and passed down to your caucus chair so your vote can be included in the caucus results.
Q. Can I show up late to the caucus and still vote?
A. Yes. Unlike the Iowa caucuses, which do not allow participants to show up after the scheduled start time, you may show up late to the caucus and vote, up until the point that the final results have been announced for your precinct. Once the results are announced, you will not be able to vote for your candidate but you will be able to vote on delegate and alternate selection for your precinct.
Q. How are the votes counted at the caucus?
A. At a caucus, you are allocating delegates to the Legislative District caucuses being held on April 5th. Delegates can either be pledged to a candidate or "undecided". Each precinct has a set of delegates allocated to it, determined by number of registered voters and number of Democratic votes in the last Presidential election.
When you sign in, you will be asked to indicate a preference for a Democratic candidate, or you can state "undecided". Once the caucus starts, the chair of your precinct will have someone count up the total number of votes for each candidate. The # of votes for each candidate will then be divided by the total number of votes for that precinct to determine a percentage of votes. This percentage is then multiplied by the number of delegates allocated to determine the portion of delegates each candidate receives. Delegates are then allocated first by assigning whole delegates, then second by the highest percentages after the decimal point. Ties are determined by lot (i.e. - coin flip or other random method).
Here's a simpler example:
Precinct FOO has 4 delegates eligible, and 59 attending voters. Here is the breakdown of votes and delegate allocations:
- Candidate A: 23 / 59 = 0.3898 x 4 = 1.5592 = 2 delegates
- Candidate B: 15 / 59 = 0.2542 x 4 = 1.0168 = 1 delegate
- Candidate C: 11 / 59 = 0.1864 x 4 = 0.7456 = 1 delegate
- Candidate D: 8 / 59 = 0.1356 = 0.5424 = 0 delegates
- Candidate E: 2 / 59 = 0.003 = 0.012 = 0 delegates
Q. Isn't there an opportunity to vote again?
A. Yes. After the initial tally, each group of supporters is allowed to give a 1 minute speech to the rest of the group explaining why they support their candidate and asking for support. After the speeches, a short time will be allowed for people to talk to each other and ask for or offer support. If you decide to change your vote, you would update your sign in for your new preference. Once the discussion is concluded, the chair will again tally the votes and then announce the final results and delegate allocation.
Q. Is there a cut off for candidate viability?
A. No. Unlike the 2004 Washington Democratic caucuses and this year's Iowa caucuses, there is no 15% "viability" rule. A candidate who fails to receive enough support to earn a delegate in the first round of voting is still eligible to convince other voters to support them and earn new or additional delegates.
Q. What happens after the delegate voting? Are we done?
A. Not yet. Once the number of delegates are determined, the group of supporters for each candidates gets together separately to vote on who from their group will be delegates and alternates to the Legislative District caucuses (which will then elect delegates to the Congressional District caucuses and on to the National Convention in Denver). There must be at least as many willing volunteers to be delegates within the precinct group as there are number of delegates allocated. If a group of supporters is unable to find enough people to volunteer, then any remaining delegates are forefeited and allocated to the next eligible candidate from the final tally.
Q. OK, after that, then what?
A. There will be an opportunity for anyone wishing to submit a resolution or idea for consideration into the state party platform to submit them. Unlike in 2004, there will not be any debate or vote allowed on the resolutions. All the resolutions will be forwarded to the County Convention on April 19th, where they will be considered and discussed in full.
After that, your caucus chair will conclude the caucus and adjourn.
Q. Can I request to be a delegate or alternate even if I cannot attend my caucus?
A. Yes. You must have someone bring a letter declaring your declaration of candidacy to the caucus for you. You will be considered a candidate but must be voted as a delegate/alternate as any other eligible candidate.
I hope this info is helpful! See you at your caucus! Sphere: Related Content
10 comments:
Yes, this information was very helpful. One other question: While I am a Democrat, my husband is a Republican who is not yet enthused about any of the Republican candidates...Can he take part in the Democratic Caucus on the 9th, in terms of voting for a Democratic candidate?
Yes, your husband can attend if he is registered to vote in your precinct. However, by signing in at the caucus he is publicly stating his willingness to be affilliated with the Democratic party (at that time), and he may be contacted by candidates or party members.
One new addition: If you are not yet registered to vote, you can still attend the caucus. There will be voter registration forms at the caucus locations and as long as you register at the start of the caucus, you can then participate.
Can you attend the caucus and vote if you cannot find your voter registration card, but you have checked and you are registered? Do they have a list?
You do not need to bring a voter registration card or any other form of ID. We're mainly taking it on the honor system that you're registered in that precinct. That said, you can't put in an address that's obviously not in the precinct when you sign in. :-)
How long will the event take- an estimate? We are wondering what to do with our two young children while we take part in the democratic process :)
Hard to tell how long it will take. They've made some changes to the process to help make it go more smoothly than the 2004 caucuses. In the practice caucuses I've participated in for training, we've gotten through it in about 90 minutes, and that was with a lot of process questions and explanations.
Hopefully it will take no longer than that, it should go faster, but it all depends on how chaotic things go.
I volunteered to be a delegate, can you tell me more about the next step, the legislative district caucus?
Absolutely, look for a post on the next level after the precinct caucuses in a day or so.
Thank you for the info. I'm with Kevin, first time delegate. I'd really appreciate your feedback on what our job is exactly and what to expect as the process. I have so far been unable find any helpful process info. on the official sites. Looking forward to your next post.
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