Caucuses are confusing. First, you have to find out where you’re
actually supposed to be. Then, when you get there, you’ll be in some
decrepit church basement or cheerless community meeting room, getting
hassled about your vote by people who are masters of convoluted rules
that you don’t even begin to understand. Never fear; this guide should
make your big day of democracy a lot easier and a whole lot less
intimidating.
THE BASICS
The caucuses for both parties kick off at 1:00 p.m. on
Saturday, February 9. Arrive early, or, at the very least,
precisely on time. Democracy doesn’t care about your excuses for
tardiness.
To be eligible to attend a caucus, you must be registered to vote.
Not currently registered? You can register to vote at your caucus
site—but if you’re planning to do that, arrive early. If you’re
not 18 yet, but are going to be 18 by the time of the election in
November, you can participate.
To find your caucus site, simply figure out your current address.
That’s the place where you live, stoner. This will help you find your
precinct, which will help you find your caucus location. If you’re a
registered Democrat, use this handy website to figure out where you’re
going: www.wa-democrats.org/caucusfinder. If you’re not registered yet, try this site: 41dems.org/gmap/caucus.html.
If you’re a Republican, ask your party why it doesn’t offer a statewide
locator online. (Although the six Republicans in King County can turn
here for help: www.kcgop.org/caucus_locator.html.)
At the caucus, you will be made to sign a pledge related to your
party affiliation. Don’t worry. You can still vote for whomever you
want in November.
SO, I’M THERE
You’ll be asked to sign in and declare your support for a candidate,
or decide to proceed as “uncommitted.”
Next, you’ll divide up into candidate groups: Clinton. Obama. Mike
Gravel Forever. You just stand with your group, listen to some
speeches, and wait for your precinct committee officer to do some fancy
math—your precinct’s total delegates will be divvied up among
Clinton, Obama, and Mike Gravel Forever proportionally, based on the
number of delegates your precinct has and the number of people in the
respective groups.
Unlike 2004, there is no flat 15 percent prerequisite for a
candidate to be viable, but there is a threshold based on that
afternoon’s turnout at your location. You have a right to change groups
before delegates are apportioned. Speech time would be a good time to
do this. If some candidates aren’t viable, all the delegates will be
divvied up among the viable candidates.
Shouldn’t take more than an hour. Presto: Democracy served.
WHAT ABOUT THE PRIMARY?
Washington has both a primary and a caucus. If you’re a Democrat,
you can safely ignore the primary altogether, as it doesn’t award any
delegates. If you’re a Republican, 51 percent of your party’s delegates
will be awarded by your party’s primary. While you can vote in both the
primary and the caucus, you’ll have to stick with the same party for
both—unless you have a Mormon conversion between February 9 (the
caucus) and February 19 (the primary) in which case, vote for Romney.
Please.
Still confused? Call the Democratic caucus hotline, (206)
583-4345, or the Republican state party, (206) 575-2900.
