A caucus is much like a precinct meeting in that it is a gathering of people in a given precinct that meet to discuss politics, nominate people to the Central Committee and elect delegates to the County Convention. The caucus is the part of the meeting that pertains to the selection of a person to become President. The caucus will decide which of the candidates will receive what portion of the 26 delegates from Nevada to the Republican National Convention in July. It is at the National Convention that the Republican candidate for President will be decided. Each person at the caucus will receive a ballot to select which candidate they would like to become President. At the conclusion of voting, the ballots will be counted in full view of the participants, placed in an envelope with the results marked on the outside of the envelope which will then be sealed with security tape. All envelopes will be turned in to the Site Coordinator for that precinct location.
Pretty simple, right? But what about those people that do not want to participate in the meeting? They just want to cast their ballot and leave. There will be provisions made for just that eventuality. It is entirely possible for anybody to simply show up, cast their ballot and leave. As of this writing, the military personnel that are deployed outside their county are being contacted and given instructions as to how they can participate by absentee ballot.
I would like to clear up some confusion about how the caucus differs from the state-run Presidential Preference Primary (PPP). The PPP will involve the universal mail-in ballot system with all the associated problems. Ballots will be mailed out weeks in advance of the February 6th election date and will continue to be received for days afterwards. The counting of those ballots will also involve days if not weeks and you will not know the results until well after the 6th. Additionally, any candidate that participates in the PPP will not be eligible to receive any delegates to the National Convention which essentially makes the PPP meaningless. For those that maintain that having the caucus just two days after the PPP is going to cause confusion, I again remind you that we will not have the results of the PPP for days afterwards.
If you want your voice as to who is going to be our next President to have any meaning, you must participate in the caucus. The caucus will decide which candidates will receive delegates at the Republican National Convention. Can you vote in the PPP and the caucus? Yes, you can. Keep in mind that there will be no delegates awarded for the PPP but you are free to fill out the mail-in ballot and send it in. After all, YOU paid for it!
I believe it is important to share some information with you about precinct meetings, what is a caucus, why it is important to participate and other information as we head into another election cycle. First, what is a precinct? A precinct is a designated district within a larger area such as a town, city, or county. A precinct is usually the lowest political subdivision within a county. In Washoe County, the Registrar of Voters is responsible for determining our precincts. You can think of a precinct as a neighborhood or a collection of several neighborhoods.
There are times when a precinct may change due to population growth, reapportionment, city annexation, or other valid reasons. It is not uncommon for a person to find themselves in a different precinct after one of these changes. As with all political boundaries, precincts are subject to change. It is very important that you, the voter, know what precinct you reside in. Your precinct number will determine what polling location you report to for the purpose of voting during the caucus and for becoming a delegate to the County Convention as well as other issues. More on that later.
In the past, before the all mail-in ballot garbage was put in place, voting was at the precinct level. We reported to the polling location designated for our precinct, given a paper ballot and pencil, and were directed to a voting booth. After completing our ballot, we put it in a locked box which was opened once the polling locations were closed, and we knew which candidates had won by the next morning at the latest. There are many (usually leftists) that say this process is rife with fraud and extremely inefficient. That is the reason we now have voting season which lasts for weeks, voting machines that can (and are) tampered with, and it takes days before we know which candidates won.
Our Founding Fathers recognized that the people are the true holders of power and not the politicians. We must start exercising that power and it starts with you in your neighborhood. When we effectively organize at the precinct level, we can directly influence the outcome of every election. I ask you all to get involved and you will be amazed at what may collectively be accomplished.
What happens at a Precinct Meeting? I would like to take a few minutes and describe for you what happens when you show up at your precinct location. First, you must present a picture ID to the check-in person who will then verify you are a registered Republican residing in Washoe County. Any person that changed their registration within 30 days of the precinct meeting will not be allowed to participate. This will prevent, hopefully, those people that want to cause interference from being able to do so. Unlike with the all mail-in ballot presidential primary the state is wasting five million dollars on which allows for same day registration, we do not allow that.
Let us assume that you are the first person to arrive at your precinct location for your precinct. After checking in, you will be given the precinct packet for your precinct. You will be directed to the location where the meeting for your precinct will be held. This might be a classroom, a cafeteria, or gym. There are instructions on the outside of the packet that MUST be followed to have a successful precinct meeting. Once the other precinct members arrive, the first thing that happens is, as a precinct, you elect a chair for this meeting of your precinct. The chair is responsible for ensuring that all of the requirements are met and that all documents are completed according to the instruction included in the packet. The completion of the documents is a shared responsibility with the secretary for your precinct, which is also elected immediately after electing a chair. Both the Chair and Secretary are only in those positions for this meeting.
There are delegates and alternate delegates for the County Convention that will be elected at this precinct meeting as well. You will elect one delegate for every 50 registered Republicans in your precinct. The number of delegates your precinct is allowed to have is clearly marked on the outside of the packet for your precinct. You may have only as many alternates as you have allotted delegates. Alternates will be allowed to attend the County Convention in the event one of the primary delegates is unable to attend. You will also nominate people to become members of the Washoe County Republican Central Committee (WCRCC).
The number of delegates for your precinct is also the number of Central Committee members you may nominate. For example, if your precinct has 1000 registered Republicans, your precinct may elect 20 delegates, 20 alternate delegates, and nominate 20 Central Committee members to the WCRCC. Keep in mind that the County Convention is where we will be adopting resolutions, our platform, and voting on other matters. There is a nominal fee associated with attendance at the County Convention. Last year the fee was fifty dollars and I do not anticipate any increase, (that has not been decided at this time).
As the precinct is the lowest political divide in the country, being nominated to the Central Committee is an elected position as well. As a Central Committee member, you represent 50 Republicans in your precinct. Please do not take that responsibility lightly. The Central Committee is not a social club. While it is pleasant to socialize with liked minded people, and we do that, the WCRCC is an ACTION organization responsible for the oversight of all things Republican in Washoe County. Stay tuned for “What Happens At A Caucus” coming soon.
Of upcoming interest, the October 18th Library Board of Trustee (LBoT) meeting at the Sierra View Library (check for changes or cancellations) which will have two new board members. It is also time for the Trustees to now evaluate the Washoe County Library Director Jeff Scott, known for bringing Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) and Rainbow Fest into the Washoe County Libraries. In 2019 it has been said repeatedly that 800 attended, the “most successful event of the Washoe County Library System”, which hosted one DQSH at the Sparks Library. In 2023, the total of all 5 events came to 357 attendees (from the September LBoT Agenda Package page 44), per the Library Director, is a reduction of 443 attendees. Unfortunately, when FOIA’d, the number of children in the targeted age range 3 – 8 years old, not attendees, was failed to be counted thereby making the use of the word “successful” one of subjective opinion rather that a statistical number. This leads one to question the competency of the “marketing” team within the Washoe County Library System as to why the pertinent data was not collected.
The previous the Library Board of Trustees had their one email account split by the five Trustees, none of which had direct access to the account and only “select” emails were received. The Trustees now each have their own emails, and while and after petitioning the Director and the Trustees several times, the LBoT emails are still unpublished on the website for the public to use. Yet, for your convenience, you will find them below. Please contact them as they are appointed to represent the citizens of Washoe County.
Al Rogers Arogers@washoecounty.gov Ann Silver asilver@washoecounty.gov Frank Perez (Chair) FPerez@washoecounty.gov Gianna Jacks gjacks@washoecounty.gov Lea Moser LMoser@washoecounty.gov
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