Boy I hope Hillary Clinton supporters don’t read this…
Did you know you can vote twice in the upcoming primary? I’m a volunteer for the Obama campaign, and they have been harping on us to get this message out. I thought it was pretty much understood but met a couple supporters who did not know this.
What it is, there’s a caucus after the primary. Anyone who voted in the primary is eligible to participate in the caucus. An additional ~50 delegates are available.
So, remember to attend the caucus. Just show up at your precinct’s voting location at ~7:15. There should be campaign volunteers, and election personnel who will walk you through things. Check out this link for more info.
Actually, Hillary’s supporters are well aware of the caucus system. I was reading in the paper a few days ago that her people were well organized in that area while many Obama supporters were calling the state Democratic party with questions on how to participate.
Nevertheless, I would encourage everyone who is interested, regardless of your candidate of choice, to get involved.
Very interesting. I hadn’t seen anything about this in the national media, but you’re right–there are 126 delegates at stake in the primary and 67 in the caucus. Very unusual. Given Hillary Clinton’s shockingly poor performance in caucuses to date, this would have to be considered good news for Obama supporters.
That’s funny, I heard the opposite! I do know Obama explained it during his televised rally in Houston this past Tuesday. I’m curious how many people will be at mine. However, I rarely have talked to any Texans, even faithful voters, who knew that the precinct conventions even existed. I just explained it to a friend of mine yesterday. When I was an election worker during the 2004 primary, we told every voter about it while they were signing in and most of them never had heard of it before.
Oh I think Texans are quite prepared for Tuesday’s Primary/caucus.
Organizers and supporters have been flying in from around the country to make sure this is it for Obama - if Texas comes out for the man [which it appears they are ready to] it’ll be over for HRC. Sounds like she’s thinking that way too from her last line in last night’s debate.
I was hesitant to start this thread. I’m not interested in starting a great political debate, but I was really surprised to find a couple hard-core Obama supporters did not know about the caucus. As for Hillary’s people already knowing… sure. I just don’t want any more to find out than is necessary.
They have us making phone calls to people in our precinct. I’m remarkably bad at this. The script for us to read is clumsy, and my improv skills are rather limited. But god help me, I’m doing it because I think this guy would make an excellent president.
Good on you, I had a tough time with the script in CT when I was doing it. I just rewrote it to say the same things and made my phone calls. I’m doing it again this weekend in RI
Don’t worry about Hillary supporters and the caucuses.
I’ve seen some media coverage about the precinct conventions too, but this is the first election cycle I’ve ever noticed it. I think it gets overlooked because the Texas primary happens so late in the game that it hardly ever matters who’s getting delegates. Usually things are decided long before we get a chance to vote.
However, they’re always important because it’s not just about assigning delegates; the precinct conventions also deal with introducing and voting on resolutions that will make their way up the chain to form the party platform. Choosing delegates and voting on resolutions are the only things that happen at the Republican precinct conventions; assinging delegates to various candidates doesn’t happen because Texas is winner-take-all for the GOP. In this way they are truly “republican,” while the Democrats are more democratic.
I voted for Obama today, and got my card stating I voted Democratic so I can attend the caucus on March 4. Thanks to the Obama volunteer who called me last week to tell me about it (hey, was that you Hugh?).
BTW I guess it wasn’t mentioned in the thread but you need something showing you voted Democratic, right? Don’t forget to either get your registration card stamped or a receipt from the election workers. I just had my photo ID, so they gave me a card (I had to ask for it) that says “This is to certify that (name, precinct, county) has voted in the primary election of the DEMOCRATIC party.” That’s apparently my ticket into the caucus on the night of the 4th.
On a serious note, if Hugh or anyone else doesn’t know the answer to that question, maybe Texas for Obama does. Their number is 1-866-675-2008.
Does anyone know what specifically happens at one of these? This is my first primary vote in general, and I knew nothing about the caucus until a few days ago.
aktep, here is the official rule about late arrivals.
If the polling place has a lot of people in line so they close later than 7pm, you have a better chance of making it before things get started, because it’s supposed to start 15 minutes after the polls close. If it’s a work obligation that might make you late, be aware that it’s actually illegal (a Class C misdemeanor) for an employer to prevent you from attending the convention if you want to go. Ideally, businesses would be shut down entirely on election night because everyone wanted to attend.
This page from the Texas democratic Party lists all the official rules, and is the source for the above quote.
This page also has a ton of good info on the precinct conventions, including sample resolutions (see below).
Specifically what happens is this:
The convention generally is called to order and moderated by the precinct chair, who you may have just voted for in the election. If nobody ran for precinct chair, anyone else can call it to order as long as they follow the rules.
When you arrive, each person signs in and declares their candidate preference. The proportion of the caucus attendees who go for each candidate determines how many of your precinct’s delegates will be allocated to each candidate. Your precinct has a certain number of delegates, which is determined by how many people in the precinct voted for the Democratic candidate in the most recent gubernatorial election (one delegate for every 25 votes, I believe). So let’s say your precinct has 10 delegates. Twenty people show up to the caucus. Ten of those people declare a preference for Obama, eight for Clinton, and two for Kucinich (this may happen despite his dropping out of the race – those folks are tenacious). This means that five of your precinct’s delegates will be allocated to Obama, four for Clinton, and one for Kucinich. If only one Kucinich person was there (representing a percentage of the total that would win less than one delegate), that person would need to go with their second choice, adding to their total.
Then volunteers will be chosen from the caucus attendees to be those delegates, who will represent your precinct at the district convention a few weeks later. Alternates are chosen as well, in case some of the delegates are unable to attend the district convention.
Then everyone votes on a convention chair (usually the just-elected precinct chair, unless there isn’t one), a secretary, and any other necessary officers.
Once all the delegate business is settled, you move on to the resolutions. Attendees who want to introduce resolutions will take turns reading the resolutions they brought, and the caucusgoers will discuss and then vote on each one. The resolutions that pass move on the to district convention to be voted on again, and then to the state convention and the national convention. These resolutions are what eventually become the party’s official platform. The wording of these is important, so it’s time to unleash your inner lawyer. Sometimes the resolutions are amended after a debate.
That’s usually it. How long it lasts depends on how many resolutions you have and how much debate there is over them. The one I ran in 2004 lasted about two hours and had 14 participants, if I remember right.
Everything is governed by Robert’s Rules of order.
Feel free to correct me if I’ve biffed a detail or two – it’s been four years since I did this.
You’re going to make me read the whole darn list of rules, aren’t you?
Ok, I see nothing in the rules that says you can’t leave. Just make sure you stay until the delegate apportionment is settled. That usually doesn’t take all that long.
