Sunday, February 5, 2012

Time For A Presidential Primary In Nevada

Yesterday, the Republicans held their presidential caucus and quite simply, it was a mess.  Many people, including myself, were denied a chance to vote in the caucus.  Sometimes,a sin my case, a bureaucratic mistake, or in other cases, people came to the caucus too late to vote or even if they were the wrong religion.
From the LVRJ: A Republican caucus event timed to accommodate observant Jews who wouldn't break Sabbath devolved into a fracas about religion and politics and made for a feisty conclusion to Nevada's presidential nominating process.
Hundreds of people who crowded into the Adelson Educational Campus in Summerlin witnessed repeated clashes between local Republican party officials and would-be caucus-goers who resented being required to affirm their religious beliefs before being allowed to participate....
But Paul supporters, many of them signing declarations stating they needed to attend the evening event because religious obligations prevented them from caucusing earlier, won the day. Paul won with 183 votes, Romney was second with 61, former House Speaker Gingrich was third with 57, and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania was last with 16.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/tempers-flare-at-chaotic-sundown-caucus-138725814.html
And: Voters around the Las Vegas Valley complained Saturday that they were denied an opportunity to vote in the Republican presidential caucuses because they showed up late for their precinct meetings.
Party officials acknowledged that confusion about the caucus process disenfranchised some voters.
"We did our best to get the word out that people needed to be there at 9 a.m., but we had some circumstances where people didn't get the word," Clark County Republican Party Chairman Dave Gibbs said. "It's unfortunate that they weren't able to participate today."
Gibbs said he didn't know how many voters were turned away, but he acknowledged that people probably were denied an opportunity to vote at sites around the valley. http://www.lvrj.com/news/confusion-about-caucus-process-shuts-some-voters-out-138715589.html
And it's not limited to the GOP as the Democrats had their own problems in 2008: In an attempt to block nine at-large caucus precincts from being held on the Las Vegas Strip, the Nevada State Education Association and six Las Vegas area residents filed a 13-page lawsuit on January 11, 2008. The at-large sites were created to facilitate the caucus participation of casino workers, and others working within 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of the Strip, but the plaintiffs said that these sites would both elect more state delegates than others and violate state election law.[12] While the suit was not officially supported by any presidential campaign, the fact that it was filed two days after the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 endorsed Obama and that several of the State Education Association's leaders endorsed Clinton led some political commentators to describe it as a proxy battle between the two campaigns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_Democratic_caucuses,_2008
So, it's time to get rid of the caucus in Nevada and just hold a primary.  That way, the problems mentioned above more than likely would be eliminated by having a primary election.

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