The time has finally arrived for registered Summit County Democrats and Republicans, and throughout Colorado for that matter, to let their preferences be heard, on Tuesday, March 1.
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Hillary Clinton achieved key victories in Georgia and Virginia to extend her lead over Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, who won his home state of Vermont but risks a major setback if he has a poor showing in the rest of the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses. The deadline to change affiliation was January 4.
Altogether, Colorado allocates 78 delegate votes for the national contest. Republicans will hold their convention in Cleveland on July 18-21, while Democrats will head to Philadelphia on July 25-28.
Comparisons are already being drawn with the Democratic caucuses of 2008, featuring a showdown between Clinton and Obama.
Powers says you can register as a Democrat at a caucus site Saturday, if you want to take part. Hillary Clinton (New York) was a record year in Summit County for those congregating to have their voices heard.
Clinton organized early with 10 state field offices and the endorsement of most state Democratic Party leaders. Precincts report their results for different races to the Montezuma County clerk, who reports them to the Colorado secretary of state. The single biggest group of voters in Colorado now are people who want nothing to do with either major political party. Even so, there’s hopeful optimism for a good crowd.
“I think if you’re going to get paid $200,000 for a speech it must be a pretty damned good speech and if it’s such a good speech you got to release the transcripts”, Sanders said in a Oklahoma City campaign rally.
David Cleland was one of the first people at Denver’s North High.
A current photo ID will be required to vote (see acceptable forms of ID here).
“We’re a very activated political population”, said Richard Helm, acting chairman for the Winchester Republican Committee. They can vote for any candidate regardless of how their state votes.
A key deadline for Nebraska Democrats to weigh in on their party’s presidential nominee left some would-be voters scrambling Tuesday.
“Caucuses are fundamentally neighborhood meetings run by local county parties that are the first step in the caucus-to-convention process”, according to frequently-asked-questions mailer from the Colorado Democratic Party.
The Republican Party chose to not hold a straw poll vote this year.
Several people complained that while they had requested absentee ballots before a separate February 24 deadline set by the Nebraska Democratic Party, they didn’t get them in time to return them by Tuesday.
Another three delegates will be awarded in the same manner based on the results in each of the state’s four congressional districts, for a total of 12.
More than a third of voters considered the right experience the most important quality, and better than 9 in 10 of them voted for Clinton.
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If you don’t meet those requirements, then you’re out of luck this go around. Caucuses are open to the public for those who want to watch, but those voters registered as unaffiliated will not be able to participate in either party’s caucus.
