# Sidebar: No Republican action in Nevada? No Democratic primary in South Carolina? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 21, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673 "2016-02-21T05:30:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/1 "2016-02-21T05:30:47Z")
Help a non-USian out, here, folks. So the Republicans had a primary in South Carolina. Didn’t the Democrats have anything? I’ve not seen anything in the news. Similarly, the Democrats had their caucus in Nevada. Didn’t the Republicans have anything on there? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/2 "2016-02-21T05:32:40Z")
Republicans have their caucus in Nevada on Tuesday. Democratic primary in South Carolina is next Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/3 "2016-02-21T05:56:49Z")
Thank you. It’s all very confusing … ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/4 "2016-02-21T06:13:14Z")
Is S. Carolina the only primary (as opposed to Cacaus) state with different dates for the different parties? It seems pretty inefficient to pay for polling stations to open twice in one month, rather then have the parties share and get it done in one night. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Thank you. It’s all very confusing … Yea, I’m kinda fond of the Byzantine complexity of the primary process. But it certainly doesn’t lend itself to easy comprehension. I think I’ve read two dozen articles over the years detailing how the Iowa cacaus system works, and I still doubt I could explain it to someone else. If nothing else, it gives journalists something to write about every four years, dusting off and updating their old pieces explaining what a superdelegate is and how delegates are chosen for Americans living abroad. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/5 "2016-02-21T06:28:59Z")
A follow-up question, if I may. I’ve seen references to the “SEC primaries”. What the heck does that mean? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/6 "2016-02-21T06:36:09Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’ve seen references to the “SEC primaries”. What the heck does that mean? 😕 The SEC (Southeastern Conference) is a college sports conference in the south, and a lot of southern states are holding their primaries on the same day (March 1st). There is no connection between the university sports teams and the primaries, they’re both just things in the same part of the country. It’s pretty dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/7 "2016-02-21T06:36:57Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > A follow-up question, if I may. > > I’ve seen references to the “SEC primaries”. What the heck does that mean? 😕 After NV and SC, the next set of primaries happen on March 1st. Unlike the previous contests, this involves ten states in one day, and is called “Super Tuesday” (cause it happens on a Tuesday) or the SEC primaries (because many of the States have college athletic teams that belong to the “Southeastern Conference”, an organizational division for collegiate sports). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/8 "2016-02-21T06:45:22Z")
Ah, football! Of course. I should have known that comes into the primaries somewhere. :smack: You guys don’t make it easy for hapless furriners to follow along at home. You know that, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/9 "2016-02-21T07:02:15Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > You guys don’t make it easy for hapless furriners to follow along at home. You know that, right? 🙂 Eh, at least you can figure out what country we’re voting for the gov’t of. I have to find a [chart](http://revolution-computing.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b1db25970b01543227ebc3970c-pi) to figure out what combination of parliements even apply to UK and its various associated…ex-kingdoms?..sub-kindoms?..whatever. And of course part (but not all) of that chart is embedded in [this](http://i.imgur.com/xEKxj2e.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/10 "2016-02-21T07:27:56Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Ah, football! Of course. I should have known that comes into the primaries somewhere. :smack: > > You guys don’t make it easy for hapless furriners to follow along at home. You know that, right? 🙂 😃 I was even born [in the same country as Bruce Springsteen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD4ezDbbu4) and I don’t know what’s going on. Neither did ¿Jeb? Bush. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/11 "2016-02-21T16:07:26Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > You guys don’t make it easy for hapless furriners to follow along at home. You know that, right? 🙂 We’d prefer you didn’t. It’s rather embarrassing! ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/12 "2016-02-21T16:20:20Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Is S. Carolina the only primary (as opposed to Cacaus) state with different dates for the different parties? It seems pretty inefficient to pay for polling stations to open twice in one month, rather then have the parties share and get it done in one night. > . They don’t share anything other than the date in other states. The Rep and Dem caucuses are held separately and have different rules and delegate numbers allocated. Eta: maybe states with primaries share voting booths? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/13 "2016-02-21T16:32:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > We’d prefer you didn’t. It’s rather embarrassing! Embarrassing? It’s aaaaaall paaaart of the plaaaan. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/14 "2016-02-21T17:32:34Z")
So caucuses are ran by the parties, and not by the State governments. That is why the two parties frequently don’t have caucuses on the same day in the same state–there is no special reason they should. Since primary elections are both ran by and **paid for** by State governments, there is a major incentive to hold both party primaries on the same day–because it’s actually not super cheap (state budgets are usually tight, so even a couple million here or there is meaningful) to run an election, and to needlessly run two in the same year for the primaries in addition to the general election in November (which the States also pay to run) is an expense most states don’t want to deal with. As you see, South Carolina and maybe a couple other States have divided primaries, but they’re paying a price for it. As for **CarnalK** ’s question, everywhere I’ve lived that do primaries, they absolutely use the same polling places. There are different mechanisms to get a “Democrat” or a “Republican” ballot, and different rules about who is eligible for which and etc, but I’ve never seen them held on the same day but not have the same polling places. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/15 "2016-02-21T17:45:12Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > They don’t share anything other than the date in other states. The Rep and Dem caucuses are held separately and have different rules and delegate numbers allocated. > > Eta: maybe states with primaries share voting booths? In my “open primary” state, the two parties’ affairs are conducted at the same time, in the same rooms, on the same machines, and overseen by the same group of staff (in pairs, one from each party). I can choose to vote in either party’s contest (not both) in any given year, and I don’t even have to decide which until I check in. This all seems eminently sensible to me. I can’t understand why the parties in many other states don’t want the input of the independent/swing voters they would need to win the general. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/16 "2016-02-21T17:48:09Z")
Yeah I knew that primaries were run by the State government so I should have known they would do them together. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/17 "2016-02-21T17:51:10Z")
Here’s a link to a political blog that has a map showing all the primaries and caucuses. > **[ElectoralVote](https://electoral-vote.com/)** > > Track the election with a red/blue map of the US updated daily using the latest state polls. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/18 "2016-02-21T19:28:32Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Ah, football! Of course. I should have known that comes into the primaries somewhere. :smack: > > You guys don’t make it easy for hapless furriners to follow along at home. You know that, right? 🙂 Can you explain the offside rule to us? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/19 "2016-02-21T20:29:08Z")
If you mean offside in soccer, no, because I’m not a Brit. 🙂 If you mean offside in the Canadian Football League, it’s much the same as in the US: player moves forward before the ball is snapped, getting too close to line of scrimmage (defence) or crosses LoS (offence). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673/20 "2016-02-22T01:13:47Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Is S. Carolina the only primary (as opposed to Cacaus) state with different dates for the different parties? I’m looking at a primary calendar and I can’t find any other states where both parties have primaries but on different days. > [@Peremensoe](#): > > In my “open primary” state, the two parties’ affairs are conducted at the same time, in the same rooms, on the same machines, and overseen by the same group of staff (in pairs, one from each party). I can choose to vote in either party’s contest (not both) in any given year, and I don’t even have to decide which until I check in. And in mine, there can also be nonpartisan issues decided at the primary, so they have to be at the same time since some things might be on every party’s ballot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidebar-no-republican-action-in-nevada-no-democratic-primary-in-south-carolina/746673.md?page=2)