Precinct Caucusing 101
On the first Saturday in March (March 3, 2012) the Republican Precinct Caucuses in Washington State will take place. This is the way our state participates in choosing the nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States.
The Washington State Democrat Party is holding their Democrat Precinct Caucuses on Sunday, April 15, 2012; however, the Presidential Nomination for the Democrats is not being actively challenged and incumbent President Barack Obama will be the Democrat Party Presidential Nominee again in 2012.
Washington State used to also have a Presidential Primary Election. For Democrats that Primary Election meant nothing; our state’s Democrat National Convention delegates were chosen entirely from the Caucus system. Delegates to the Republican National Convention used to be chosen on a 50/50 system: 1/2 the state GOP's delegates were selected from the Caucus system and 1/2 were selected based on the results of that Presidential Primary Election; however, the Washington State Legislature finally ended (officially "suspended until 2016") this very expensive beauty pageant. Now the Caucus system is the only way delegates are selected to attend each party's National Convention (to nominate their party's nominee for President of the United States).
In order to participate in your precinct party caucus on March 3rd (or April 15th for the Democrats) you will need to be a registered voter, and know/find-out what Precinct you vote in. You can either look at your Voter Registration Card, or (if you vote in King County) look it up:
For voters in King County: http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/voterlookup.aspx
For voters outside of King County you will need to either look at your Voter Registration Card or contact your County Auditor's Office: http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/auditors.aspx
For voters in King County: http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/voterlookup.aspx
For voters outside of King County you will need to either look at your Voter Registration Card or contact your County Auditor's Office: http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/auditors.aspx
You then need to find out where your Precinct Caucus is being held:
For Republicans in King County: http://www.kcgop.org/caucus-locator/
For Republicans outside of King County: http://wsrpcaucus.tumblr.com/locations
For Republicans in King County: http://www.kcgop.org/caucus-locator/
For Republicans outside of King County: http://wsrpcaucus.tumblr.com/locations
For Democrats state-wide: http://www.wa-democrats.org/content/precinct-caucuses
The caucuses typically start at 10AM (and generally run about 2 hours long), and are usually held in someone's home or a publicly-accessible building. Once you arrive you may see signs directing you to your Precinct. There will likely be refreshments and perhaps snacks laid out for you. Donations of $1-2 per person are suggested to help defray the costs of these items, but don’t feel obligated to donate.
If your Precinct already has a Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) then this person will run your party precinct caucus. If no PCO is present then one participant in your Precinct Caucus will need to serve as Chairman for this meeting (only).
You will all then be asked to sign-in. The form you fill-out asks caucus participants to declare that they consider themselves Republicans (or Democrats) for purposes of nominating a candidate for President in 2012. This party affiliation means nothing for any future elections (including this state's regular Primary Election in August).
Once you have signed in and have determined who will run the caucus (your PCO or Caucus Chairman) you will all likely be asked to fill out a survey that will ask you to rank many politically-meaningful issues by importance (education, taxes, transportation, national security, et cetera). These surveys will get compiled to help establish what issues party members are most concerned with.
You will then likely be asked to declare what Presidential Candidate within the party you are supporting (you can declare any support for anyone affiliated with that party, whether or not they are a declared candidate for President or not; this is a non-binding Straw Poll, as was Iowa's Caucuses on January 3rd); all participants then have the opportunity to discuss the candidates, their policy positions, and can attempt to persuade other participants’ to change their choice of candidate.
Participants then elect delegates to their Legislative District Caucus. If there are more delegate seats available than there are participants (i.e. 4 delegates are allotted for your precinct but there are only 3 participants) then all precinct caucus participants are automatically eligible to be Legislative District Caucus delegates. PCOs automatically become delegates to their Legislative District Caucus.
At your Legislative District Caucus delegates are elected to your party’s County Convention, where State Convention delegates are elected, who then elect Republican or Democrat National Convention delegates where our state casts its votes for nomination of a candidate to run for President in the General Election.
At the end of your precinct party caucus participants are free to discuss anything else they wish to bring up (local transportation issues, foreign affairs, the city council, Presidential politics, et cetera).
That may be a lot of words, but participating in a precinct party caucus is very, very easy to do. I implore anyone who has educated themselves about any issues they find important to please participate in their caucus. I would also recommend to anyone who hasn’t looked into the issues yet (or isn't yet a registered voter) to please go to a precinct party caucus as an observer.
Here are a few more links:
The caucuses typically start at 10AM (and generally run about 2 hours long), and are usually held in someone's home or a publicly-accessible building. Once you arrive you may see signs directing you to your Precinct. There will likely be refreshments and perhaps snacks laid out for you. Donations of $1-2 per person are suggested to help defray the costs of these items, but don’t feel obligated to donate.
If your Precinct already has a Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) then this person will run your party precinct caucus. If no PCO is present then one participant in your Precinct Caucus will need to serve as Chairman for this meeting (only).
You will all then be asked to sign-in. The form you fill-out asks caucus participants to declare that they consider themselves Republicans (or Democrats) for purposes of nominating a candidate for President in 2012. This party affiliation means nothing for any future elections (including this state's regular Primary Election in August).
Once you have signed in and have determined who will run the caucus (your PCO or Caucus Chairman) you will all likely be asked to fill out a survey that will ask you to rank many politically-meaningful issues by importance (education, taxes, transportation, national security, et cetera). These surveys will get compiled to help establish what issues party members are most concerned with.
You will then likely be asked to declare what Presidential Candidate within the party you are supporting (you can declare any support for anyone affiliated with that party, whether or not they are a declared candidate for President or not; this is a non-binding Straw Poll, as was Iowa's Caucuses on January 3rd); all participants then have the opportunity to discuss the candidates, their policy positions, and can attempt to persuade other participants’ to change their choice of candidate.
Participants then elect delegates to their Legislative District Caucus. If there are more delegate seats available than there are participants (i.e. 4 delegates are allotted for your precinct but there are only 3 participants) then all precinct caucus participants are automatically eligible to be Legislative District Caucus delegates. PCOs automatically become delegates to their Legislative District Caucus.
At your Legislative District Caucus delegates are elected to your party’s County Convention, where State Convention delegates are elected, who then elect Republican or Democrat National Convention delegates where our state casts its votes for nomination of a candidate to run for President in the General Election.
At the end of your precinct party caucus participants are free to discuss anything else they wish to bring up (local transportation issues, foreign affairs, the city council, Presidential politics, et cetera).
That may be a lot of words, but participating in a precinct party caucus is very, very easy to do. I implore anyone who has educated themselves about any issues they find important to please participate in their caucus. I would also recommend to anyone who hasn’t looked into the issues yet (or isn't yet a registered voter) to please go to a precinct party caucus as an observer.
Here are a few more links:
Washington State Secretary of State Elections & Voting information on the 2012 Presidential Caucuses: http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/2012PresidentialCaucuses.aspx
King County Elections information on the 2012 Presidential Caucuses: http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/currentelections/201208/2012CaucusInformation.aspx
Washington State Republican Party's Presidential Caucus website (including a caucus overview and Frequently Asked Questions): http://wsrpcaucus.tumblr.com/
Washington State Democrat Party Caucus information: http://www.wa-democrats.org/content/precinct-caucuses
Washington State Republican Party Election Year 2012 Caucus & Convention Manual: http://youra.net/images/gop/2012caucusmanual.pdf
Washington State Democrat Party Delegate Selection Plan for 2012: http://www.wa-democrats.org/vfmfiles/PDFs/2012%20DSAAP%20-%20Washington%20State.pdf
'How the Republicans' system will work' article written by former Washington State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance: http://crosscut.com/2011/09/27/elections/21340/New-rules-could-mean-a-long%2C-dramatic-battle-for-the-GOP-presidential-nominee/one_page/
Please: get educated about whatever issues interest you, and make your voice heard! (And encourage your neighbors to go with you.)
I would be happy to answer any questions anyone regarding any of this (based on my own experiences at caucuses).
Happy Caucusing,
Attila the Right
Attila the Right
posted by Eric W. at
10:46 AM
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