Important Update About Democratic Caucus
— from David Turnoy, Vice Chair, San Juan County Democrats for Orcas Island —
There has been some more information released by the state Democratic Party about the Democratic caucus on March 26 at 10:00 AM. These caucuses will take place at the public school cafeteria on Orcas, at the high school in Friday Harbor, and at the public schools on Lopez and Waldron.
The following residents of San Juan County who declare themselves to be Democrats and have not voted in the 2016 caucuses of any other political party can participate: 1) All registered voters of San Juan County; 2) All residents of San Juan County who are 18 or older and who are not registered to vote in San Juan County and who sign a San Juan County voter registration form at the precinct caucuses [see next paragraph]; and 3) All other residents of San Juan County age 17 who will become 18 before or on November 8, 2016.
If you are 18 or older and are not registered, you can register almost immediately online at the state elections website (https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/myvote/). This will save time, but if you show up at the caucus and are still not registered to vote, you will have to fill out a voter registration form in order to participate. The Democratic Party wants to encourage as much participation as possible.
Everyone wishing to participate in the caucus must also complete and sign a separate caucus registration form, not to be confused with the voter registration form discussed above, either at the March 26 caucuses or preferably in advance. The preferred method to register for the caucus would be to go to the website below and register; I have done it, and it takes a minute or two. Print out your registration to bring with you to the caucus. (Be sure to fill in the “Presidential Preference” blank and sign the form before turning it in.) You can register at the caucus, but we are expecting hundreds of people, and it will all go faster if you register in advance. Go to https://www.wa-democrats.org/page/2016-democratic-caucuses, then choose the quick link. Find your caucus site and pre-register.
If you won’t be able to attend the caucus, you can get a surrogate affidavit to vote by mail if you have one of the following reasons: because of a need to participate in observance of one’s religion, because of responsibilities related to military service or work schedule, or because of a disability or illness that does not allow attendance at the Precinct Caucus. Go to https://www.wa-democrats.org/page/2016-democratic-caucuses, then to Surrogate Affidavit. This same website also has links to Frequently Asked Questions, How To Caucus, 2016 Delegate Selection Plan, 2016 Caucus and Convention Guide.
If you have any questions, on Orcas contact me at davidgeri@centurylink.net or 376- 4165. On Lopez contact Mac Langford at tyttil@rockisland.com or 468-4015. On San Juan contact David Dehlendorf at thesjcdems@gmail.com or 378-1082.
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IF a person knows who they want to vote for and will not be swayed, are they required to stay for the entire caucus? Many of us work on Saturdays and can’t get away for that long. Can we just vote and leave? Thank you for answering.
Also, please write a separate article about the breakdown of populist delegates (the ones voted for at the caucus) and Super Delegates? What percentage of delegates comes from the caucus vote, and what percentage from the Super Delegates? Do the Super Delegates decide who represents the party at the primary? With whom are these Super Delegates affiliated – with what interests? People need to know this information, and that 100% of our delegates will be decided at this caucus – there will not be another chance. Thank you David!
Thanks to Sadie for some good questions. You don’t have to stay for the entire caucus, but if you want to be a delegate, you will have to stay to the end. And if you can’t make it due to work, send in a surrogate affidavit so it arrives by March 18, and your vote will be counted.
Washington gets 119 delegates to the Democratic Convention. 67 of those are chosen through the precinct caucuses, about 7 delegates per each of the 10 Congressional districts in Washington. The other 52 are a combination of Democratic officials from Washington (senators, Congress critters, etc.) and people chosen at the state convention, the latter usually being chosen especially for their demographic characteristics to ensure that the state delegation meets the Democratic Party’s diversity requirements. These “super” delegates generally support the will of the people, though they may originally support a different candidate.
Again, if you want to have a voice in choosing the Democratic nominee for president, come out March 26.
David Turnoy
Thank you, David – well explained, and important for people to know. As in your great article before – Democratic party delegates are all chosen at the caucuses. Republicans chose a saner path – to have their caucuses and decide the delegates at the convention and primary election. Caucuses are notoriously low in attendance.
So – are the precincts delegates divided up evenly, regardless of population? That seems like another thing that needs to be fixed in the Democratic party, if so! It should be by population density so that every vote counts. And get rid of the idea of caucuses deciding delegates – the primaries have a much larger turnout.
Because Washington is also a “super” delegate state, your caucus vote only counts as 0.56 of a vote. The rest of your vote is chosen by the party establishment. Whatever happened to one person, one vote? This year’s presidential primary has illustrated how broken the primary system is. It is clearly designed to favor establishment candidates.
You bring up an excellent point, Jim McCorrison. To clarify a bit more what David Turnoy has said: (for those who don’t want to vote for the party establishment candidate) – since Washington State doesn’t register people by party, a person from any party can vote in the Democratic Caucus for the candidate of their choice on the “democrat” side – as long as they sign a paper saying that for that day, they are effectively a democrat. So although the hype is that the party establishment candidate is a shoo-in, anyone from any party can come to the Democratic caucus and vote for an independent – as long as they have not attended the Republican caucus (no delegates were voted on in the Republican caucus – only the Dems were foolhardy enough to make their caucuses decide on delegates in March! The Republicans will choose, via all the voters, in the Sept. Primary).
I’ve heard so many people saying they will not partake, and not vote in this caucus. It would seem that now, more than ever, would be the time to NOT give up the right to pick the candidate of your conscience and not just give up because it seems like a “fixed” “fight.”