Here’s my perspective as a first-time Nevada caucuser, having lived in Maryland for 57 years before moving here three years ago. (This post will have little or no political commentary, just an account of the caucus experience, which may be of interest to some outside the Silver State.)
Having only voted in primaries before this, I was not favorably disposed to the idea of a caucus. Although turnout for primaries and mid-terms is always lower than for general elections, the whole concept of a caucus strikes me as about as undemocratic as a democratic process can get, at least the way the Democrats do it in Nevada. (More about the Republican process below.)
Caucusing (for Dems) requires a time commitment of 2-3 hours on a Saturday. The duration alone must discourage large numbers of people who, even if they wanted to participate, may have other commitments or might not be able to get out of work. It certainly isn’t an attractive proposition for any but the most dedicated members of the party, or those who, like my wife and I, feel it is an important civic duty. It is much more difficult than simply voting in a primary, which, because of the low turnout, is usually quite quick.
Yesterday’s caucus drew less than 12,000 Democrats, out of 471,000 active registered Democrats. (Cite for the number of Dems statewide.) Check my math if you like, but that’s 2.5%. A quick Google search suggests that primary turnout is typically much higher.
So my wife and I get to the caucus location, an elementary school about ten minutes’ walk from our house, and find many long lines of people waiting to register. However, since I had pre-registered, I was looking for the number to which I was supposed to text my pre-registration code to let me check in automatically. I asked several volunteer workers what the number was or how to get it. No one knew. Eventually, I checked in with a woman who had and iPad linked (I think) to the NV Dems website. And she wasn’t well informed enough to simply enter my code, but asked me for name, zip code, etc. So a certain lack of organization and training. (Needless to say, that was to be expected. As Will Rogers said, “I belong to no organized political party. I’m a Democrat.”)
We were given a ballot card and told our precinct number and directed to a small classroom. We had to wait until everyone who was in line to check in at noon, the cut-off time, had gotten to the proper room. But well before that, our small room was getting very crowded and warm. There were a fair number of older people, so our temporary precinct captain went looking for a larger room for us. Fortunately, he found one, and we all moved, bringing our kid-sized chairs with us.
Once we had word that everyone was in the correct room, they read us letters from Senator Harry Reid, the woman who is running to replace him when he retires this year, the head of the Nevada Democratic committee, and from Bernie and Hillary.
We counted off to discover that there were 117 of us in the room, and then separated into our “first alignment” groups: Bernie, Hillary, and undecided. That count worked out to be 48, 114, and 5 respectively.
(In case you hadn’t realized it, please note that this is not a secret ballot: everyone in the room knows what side --literally – you’re on. Not only that, but the party keeps your ballot, with your name and vote, in its possession. This is yet another count against the caucus process as conducted by the Democrats in Nevada.)
We were given 15 minutes for people on each side to speak in favor of their candidates, after which the undecided folks were asked to decide; the “second alignment.” Three went to Hillary, two to Bernie. Our precinct’s final tally: Hillary 67, Bernie 50. They asked anyone who wanted to be a delegate to the county convention to stay, and the rest of us went home. My wife and I had arrived a little before 11:30 and were heading home by 1:30.
My final impression was slightly more favorable than how I felt beforehand. The speeches people gave in the 15 minutes were largely heartfelt and respectful of the other candidate. People were generally respectful of one another, cooperative, and friendly. I was able to have the last word, and reminded everyone that regardless of whether the nominee was Hillary or Bernie, it was vital that all Democrats vote for that nominee and for the Democrats running for all other offices, come November. That got a big round of applause.
On the walk home I felt good about seeing people involved in the process, and participating myself, but in the end, I would still rather see a primary election that involved even more people.
The Nevada Republicans do it differently, and there are aspects of their process I would prefer. Their caucus is on a Tuesday evening, from 5 to 7:30, which would seem to be less conducive to good turnout than Saturday. But once you check in, you’re given a ballot (which I don’t think has your name on it) which you can fill out, drop in the box, and leave. They conduct various party business, which you can stay for if you want, but you don’t have to. So it is a secret ballot, and the commitment of time is substantially less and little more than a primary would be.
So there you go, the Nevada caucus process, as seen by a first-timer.