Caucusing - State caucus report, but no trip to national

[Stormborn]

They generally don't have enough members to actually have a chance at the general election which selects the president from the various nominees. Instead some attempt to use their voter blocks to gain concessions on issues from the two major parties. Because things tend to run so close in the general election even a relatively small group on the national scale can potentially tip the results. Perot was the only time in decades a third party has managed to hang with the two biggies for so long.

Oh, I know. I just wanted it to be clear to our non-American members that just because a big deal is made about the Republicans and the Democrats, and their primaries/caucuses, doesnt mean that come Nov. there are not other names on the ballot and even if you voted in one of the primaries doesnt meant you can't vote for someone else entirely come the actual election.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Oh, I know. I just wanted it to be clear to our non-American members that just because a big deal is made about the Republicans and the Democrats, and their primaries/caucuses, doesnt mean that come Nov. there are not other names on the ballot and even if you voted in one of the primaries doesnt meant you can't vote for someone else entirely come the actual election.

Okay, that was what I thought you were doing. I was just figured non-American members could use a short summary of how the minor and major parties interact in regards to the general election that follows since it gets most of the focus out of the States.

 

[ssampier]

The U.S. system is certainly interesting. Even as a college-educated citizen, I can't say that I fully understand all of it.

I just try to do my patriotic duty and vote.

 

[Evilhalfling]

County Caucus Report

So I thought I would post an update to my experiance, as there was a second caucus this weekend, this time it was a lot more clear what was going on, and why.

This event was called the "county" caucus, and hundreds of delegates and alternates showed up. Delegates could still change thier stated preference for presidential nominee, but all it determined was who that delegate could represent at the next level of caucus, the split between the canidates was determined by the orginal event. (colorado split 67%/32%)

The convention first nominated people to the state legislature - in most cases** they were unopposed, at least until they run against the other parties in the general election.

Again delegates were selected to represent each presidential canidate at the next level.
there are 2 more caucus events and both will select delegates to go to the national convention.
One is the "state" caucus and it will also nominate the US senate canidate for the party.
the other is the : "congressional" caucus and it will nominate the US house of representatives canidate for the party.

It all begins to make sense.

Selecting delegates:
Delegates were selected in very odd ways. Coming into the building people were handing out flyers with thier resumes of why they should be selected as delegates. People were expecting to give little speeches, and be voted on. Instead other methods were used.
In my group we started with the fact we could select a total of 32 delegates and alternates, to represent our canidate at the next level, and there were 28 of us. A quote from the process "okay now we need 16 delegates, and there are 19 of you, would three people step aside? you can be alternates you know. Okay thats 1 we need 2 more to step down, come on ...."

In other groups they simply put all the names of interested parties into a hat and drew randomly. Some groups actually listened to speeches.

Anyway with just a little determination I am going to both of the next 2 events, as an alternate to one and a delegate to the other. If the selection process is as random, I will bring dice, and perhaps my chance to go to the national convention will rest on a d20

** contested office [sblock] One of the contested races was due to fact that you had to submit a letter of intent to run for office 10 days before caucus. In one voting cycle someone moved to suspend the rules so that another person could compete. It was seconded but not passed. Had it passed we could have chaged the party nominee (for state senator), more or less on a whim. [/sblock]
Truely, Caucus democracy in action.

 

[Evilhalfling]

the final Colorado caucus was this last Saturday, Ill type up a full report if anyone is still interested.

The chance of me going to the National Convention is small but real.
Dice were rolled, votes were cast.
Selective hearing can be useful when managing 5000 delegates.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Kudos to all involved in this discussion!!!
The information was correct, the questions were helpful and the answers informative, all while being civil. As someone that has been on the ground floor of election operations at an early age (my step-father was a precinct committee member for a Southern Illinois precinct and the whole family was tied up in politics most of the year) I have yet to see any disinformation or anything that is 'wrong' about what has been put out.

As kind of a summation there are two sets of elections in the country initial (for selecting candidates) and actual (for selecting electors to the electoral college).

The initial elections are primaries and caucuses that allow the individual voter to decide on which candidates their party will run in the national and local elections on election day. Primaries are strict votes, done in secret, usually by ballot, to either elect your party's candidate (in a closed primary) or in the case of open primaries, block other candidates from receiving the nomination. In a caucus a 'straw poll' is taken to determine either delegates to the State convention or in some cases to regional or even the National conventions.

In the actual elections every voter regardless of party can vote for any candidate, regardless of party affiliation (which why your party isn't asked of you at a National election) or any issue that is posted on the ballot. Though rules vary from State to State, usually you may choose to vote for any, all or none (although why you showed up then I couldn't imagine) of the posted procedures (ie candidates or issues) on the Local, State and National level. In the case of the National election your vote determines which electoral representatives are sent to the Electoral College to cast the representative vote for your candidate. (you hope, as once they are in the college an elector may choose to swing the opposite way, though it hasn't happened in US history yet due to the public lynching that would almost assuredly take place afterward.)

And while it may seem like a lot of trouble for those that are not part of the process, this is one reason that we feel that our system works. No one person can claim leadership without a fair and valid vote, no one may stay in office after a set number of years (ruling out a dictatorship) and if things go truly awry there are means in place to remove anyone that gets 'too big for their britches'. While you may not agree with the policies of the person in office at any given time, unless those policies are truly criminal, truly inhumane or truly unconstitutional, the chances of seeing that person removed are slim. (Only two Presidents have ever been impeached Jackson and Clinton both survived the process, Nixon resigned before charges could be brought to bear) Unpopular decisions are a requirement of the job (not just the President in the Executive branch but also those of the Representatives and Senators in the Legislative), as long as the Judicial branch finds them abiding to Constitutional Law, they stick.

Long and drawn out, yes, but there are so many checks and balances that rarely are grossly negligent mistakes made, again unpopular, yes, negligent, not so much.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Before: After the last caucus I filled out the paperwork to get my name listed as a candidate to the National Convention, then I got distracted. We started getting calls, 1-3 a day for the week before the event, reminding me to go. My wife, who always listens to the answering machine first, got very tired of it.
Also, two weeks before the event I decided to change my candidate preference, by then it was to late to change the paperwork. I was on the ballot for a candidate I no longer supported. My campaign to go to the DNC was dead before it started.

The Event After driving 90 miles Saturday morning, I arrived at the convention at 7am.
5000 delegates and 5000 alternates were invited to the state Caucus. I would guess 7k of us showed up. In contrast National Convention will have a little over 4200 delegates. (but more press etc.) I found out that I could vote for a different candidate than I was sent for, but that my name would still be on the ballot as a delegate for my original choice.

The convention was lots of speeches, cheering and waving signs. Who ever gave me a 2’ flexible glow-stick was roundly cursed by the people seated around me. (I hit at least 3 of them, the woman in front of me more than once.) We voted on the party platform, and acclaimed the candidate for Senator. Meanwhile, members of each campaign counted delegates and argued over which alternates were chosen. This took until 3pm.

Finally the voting started. Each delegate could pick up a ballot based on presidential preference, then vote for which people that would represent that candidate. There were 70 people running for the electoral collage, and 1500 ! to go as delegates. Running for 14 spots, 7 men, 7 women. The ballots were nearly 100 pages, 16 delegates listed on a page, 40 pages of women, 20(ish) pages of men. I read through and voted for the ONE name I recognized. Then I got out the dice.
Alternating I counted 1-20 pages from the front then 1-20 pages from the back, rolling each time. Because I had changed candidates, the ballot I was using did not have me listed.

Evilhalfling & Election Fraud? It was pointed out that it did not matter which candidate I supported, if the democrats reached decision before the convention. Perhaps I could still go! I looked around at all the blank and confused people sifting through the names, or trying to find fliers they had been given 8 hours earlier.

I started walking around and introducing myself with the qualifications;
“I can yell loudly for hours and wave a sign enthusiastically.“ It always got a laugh and perhaps gained me 20-30 votes.
Was this false representation? Should I have been campaigning while people were holding their actual ballots? Did it make any difference? based only on the law of averages, each compeating male delegate will receive 600 votes, So chances are I made no difference.

My understanding was that for the national convention delegates are only pledged for 1 round of voting, IF more rounds are needed then delegates can change their votes. Anyway this is how I will act. Otherwise if I was chosen, everytime you saw a delegate count for the US democratic canidates, you would have to adjust the number by 1.

I’m guessing results may be published by Friday, but who knows? Tabulating 5000 ballots with 100 pages each will not go quickly, I will post when I find out if I have been chosen.

Overall the caucus process was long, and somewhat silly. I still believe a primary may be a better way to handle elections, but I had a lot of fun attending events and talking to my representatives. I would not have missed it and will participate again next cycle, its kind of addictive.

Edit - results posted on thursday. I was not selected, to the relief of my wife.
Only 2 men were selected as delegates for my canidate, one a state house senator.
One delegate seat did switch based on caucus voting, so you will have to mentally change colorado to a 36/19 delegate split.