ELECTION 2016: Caucus confusion? Here’s all the local info for Saturday

If you’re a Democrat and planning to caucus Saturday, but still not sure exactly how it works and/or where to go – here’s the full how-to, as just sent by the 34th District Democrats:

Democrats from across the 34th Legislative District will caucus on Saturday, March 26, in multiple locations. During the caucus Democrats will elect delegates pledged to either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. These delegates will attend conventions and caucuses to be held later in the year at the legislative district, congressional district, King County and Statewide level, where they will elect the 118 delegates to the Democratic Party’s national convention in Philadelphia in July. The 34th Legislative District includes West Seattle, White Center, North Highline, Vashon Island and the northern part of Burien. In this district, the caucuses will be held at schools. Here is a detailed list of precinct caucus locations in the 34th District:
34dems.org/sites/34dems/files/Caucus-Locations-2016.pdf

Anyone can attend their caucus, but voting for presidential delegates is limited to registered voters who
publicly attest that they are Democrats. People who are currently 17 years old but will be eligible to vote in the Nov. 8 election also can vote in the caucuses. People can find their precinct on the King County website here:

kingcounty.gov/depts/elections/elections/maps/find-my-districts.aspx

Caucuses start at 10 a.m. The main order of business is choosing delegates and backing a candidate for president. If you have not preregistered, you’ll have to sign in.

Each precinct caucus will be led by the Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) elected or appointed for that
precinct. If a precinct does not have a PCO, the caucus itself will elect a leader for the caucus. A first
tally of votes for presidential candidates will be made. After that tally is counted and the result
announced, caucus participants can give a quick pitch to try to sway undecided voters.

A second tally will then be counted. Those results will determine how many delegates get allotted to
each candidate. Then caucusgoers will choose delegates to represent them at the next round of
legislative district caucuses and county conventions.

Finally, there will be a discussion of possible resolutions for the state convention in June.

Caucuses are not “winner take all”. If those attending a precinct are divided between supporting Hillary
Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the delegates from that precinct will be proportionally divided.
More information is on the 34th District Democrats website at www.34dems.org.

Details of the process in Washington State:

 March 26 precinct caucuses elect about 27,000 delegates statewide.

 Those are whittled down at legislative district caucuses and county conventions to 1,400
delegates.

 The final delegates to the Democratic National Convention are picked at congressional di trict
caucuses and the state convention in May to arrive at the final 118 who go to the national convention this July in Philadelphia.

How Democrats in the 34th District can find and attend their caucus (this information also on the web here):

1. Find your precinct – King County has a precinct-finder on the web here.

2. Find the location where your precinct caucus will be held – here is the list of locations for the 34thDistrict in precinct order and here is a list ordered by location.

3. Find out the name of your precinct committee officer (PCO) on the King County Democrats’ web page here. You can contact your PCO in advance and volunteer to help. If there is no PCO, you can asked to be appointed. Contact Les Treall via email or phone at 206-948-5423. If there is no PCO or your PCO does not attend the caucus, you can be elected to run the caucus by the others who do come. Familiarize yourself with the materials below to prepare.

4. Come to the caucus at 10:00 AM on Saturday, March 26!

5. Lots of details on the 34th District caucus page here.

11 Replies to "ELECTION 2016: Caucus confusion? Here's all the local info for Saturday"

  • Ben March 25, 2016 (1:01 pm)

    Thanks for the info. The last time we had a caucus at WSHS it was like a free for all with parking and driving the wrong way on SW Lander west of California Ave, etc. Pay attention, especially when the garage sale weekend comes back around. Ugh. 

  • GetOutTheCaucus! March 25, 2016 (1:39 pm)

    Thank you so much for publishing this. Bernie’s team was out in my neighborhood (Delridge) yesterday hanging info on doors……with the wrong caucus locations. I’m hoping all my neighbors know their true caucus locations! 

  • andrewwantcookie March 25, 2016 (3:21 pm)

    Haha…those were probably Hillary supporters handing out a little misdirection.

    She’s tricky that way!

    • GetOutTheCaucus March 25, 2016 (4:27 pm)

      Nope. It was Bernie’s people. I’m not suggesting it was malicious (that’s more of a Bernie’s people thing to do….accuse people of everything under the sun), but more of a simple mistake. Mistakes happen. Not everything is voter suppression or intimidation. These people are volunteers. Not sabotaging spies. Come on people. 

  • Michelle March 25, 2016 (6:21 pm)

    Do you have to stay the whole time or once your vote is counted can you leave? I just want to be counted and I trust my neighbors to choose a delegate. I want to make sure I stay if I need to. Thanks

  • LivesInWS March 25, 2016 (7:55 pm)

    @Michelle, theoretically you can vote and leave. Some people do because you can get harangued for your choice. However, it’s a caucus with arcane rules from smoke-filled room days. The minority 15% get dropped out and don’t count. The exact # depends on the # of people in the caucus.

    Considering only about 3% of a state’s population attends caucuses, it’s a highly unrepresentative way to select a party’s nominee. People who work, can’t get child care, are sick, lack transportation, attend synagoge/church, are traveling, etc., can’t attend and so have no voice. This year the Dems offered a “proxy”- type (absentee) ballot if you had to work, had religious duties, or knew ahead of time you were going to be sick, but that option was not publicized at large. The Seattle Times mentioned it the day of the deadline, but from what I heard, the party’s fax machines were all off the hook and people could not fax their ballots in.

    Sure wish they’d move to a democratic process … something like 1 person, 1 vote, and secret ballot. Hey! Like a regular primary. 

  • Sarah March 25, 2016 (10:32 pm)

    Disparaging volunteers for any candidate is disingenuous. Bernie’s folks are the best there is and if a mistake was made, Sorry.  But the second poster did make it sound malicious.  Arizona should give people a taste of what HRC establishment politics can do. (Paid not volunteers.) Stay alert. Make sure your caucus is representing the true will of each person. Take notes and if anything looks fishy – report it ASAP.  

  • Michelle March 26, 2016 (8:40 am)

    Thanks @WS. I agree, a primary would be much more convenient. 

  • ChannelingLewisBlack March 26, 2016 (9:34 am)

    Hey I’ve got an idea – how about an app?  1 vote, 1 person, 1 time, Any time, Any where.

    Why the WA Dem party holds to such an arcane, quaint throwback process from the last centuries, intimidating voters and basically teaching the challenged (day care, logistics, etc) how not to vote is so mind-boggling.  Aren’t we supposed to be the progressives?  

    If I can get a house loan with an app, I should be able to VOTE with one….

  • Helen March 26, 2016 (1:06 pm)

    You’re allowed to bring your children to the caucus. Many I know, did. For most people, childcare should not be a barrier (unless the child has extreme special needs.) 

  • Angela March 26, 2016 (1:16 pm)

    This mixup with providing misinformation about precinct locations is concerning. I have been volunteering for the Bernie campaign and when out canvassing the instruction was clear- to let people know how to confirm their own location (ie giving websites, etc). I’ve also gotten multiple texts telling me my specific location, which was accurate. 

Sorry, comment time is over.