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PRESS RELEASE from Washington State Democrats
3/3/12
GOP Voters
Given a Choice Between Bad and Worse in WA Caucuses
Following the announcement of tonight's
GOP caucus results, Dwight
Pelz, chair of the Washington State Democrats, issued the following
statement:
“Republican voters today were stuck with a
decision between bad and
worse for a presidential nominee. Washingtonians are looking for a
leader who will focus on revitalizing the economy and creating jobs,
but Mitt Romney and the rest of the GOP slate are too busy pandering to
the extreme right wing of their party to focus on the issues that
matter to Washington’s middle class families.
“Mitt Romney’s budget does nothing to
create jobs – it only cuts
investments in innovation, research, and community colleges. His
backwards economic policies are no surprise considering his failed
record on job creation as governor, when Massachusetts ranked 47th out
of 50 in job creation.
“While Romney’s agenda completely
overlooks middle class families,
and continues giveaways to millionaires, billionaires and corporations,
it turns downright hostile towards women. Just this week, Romney
followed his tradition of flip-flopping on women’s health by opposing
the controversial Blunt amendment, only to change course by supporting
it a few hours later.
“Now that Washington’s highest profile
Republican Rob McKenna has
waited for GOP voters to tell him who he should back, will he come out
in support of Mitt Romney? Or will he continue to hide his true
allegiance in order to evade questions about how he lines up with the
GOP frontrunners on key issues?”
- When are the caucuses?
The
precinct caucuses are on March 3, they begin at 10 AM and will end
around noon. We recommend arriving 30 minutes early to check in.
- Where will the caucus in my area
be held.
To find your caucus you need to know your precinct. If you don’t know
your precinct, click here,
fill in your information then click on “my districts & elected
officials” to locate your precinct, then go to our list of precincts
located here.
- Can I volunteer to help out with
my caucus?
Yes. We need volunteers to register people and to help set up for the
caucuses. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact your county party.
- What is the difference between a
caucus and a primary? Why aren’t we having a primary this year?
A
primary election is when people get to vote, in our state via absentee
ballots, to select who their nominee will be. In Washington State we
have used both a primary and a caucus in the past to allocate our
delegates to the national convention. This year, the Secretary of State
and the State Legislature decided to cancel the primary due to
budgetary considerations. Instead of simply filling out a ballot as in
a primary, in a caucus, members of local communities meet and elect
delegates to the County Convention, at the county convention those
delegates will select delegates to the State Convention who will select
our State’s 40 delegates to the national convention.
- Do I have to be registered as a
Republican to participate?
No.
Washington State does not have partisan voter registration. So you are
unable to register as a Republican. To participate in the caucus, you
need to be registered to vote, and be willing to sign a form that you
“consider yourself to be a republican” and you will not be
participating in any other parties nominating caucus this year.
- My county changed precinct
boundaries because of redistricting. Am I caucusing using my old
precinct or new precinct boundary?
Your county party submitted a list of precincts to the WSRP by December
14th,
2011. So, more likely than not, you are going to be caucusing
under
your old precinct boundary. If you have any questions, please
contact
your county party.
- In the past, I’ve voted for
Democrats, does that mean I cannot participate in the Republican Caucus
this year?
No.
You are more than welcome to participate in our caucus. Again, you need
to be a registered voter and be willing to sign a form that states that
you “consider yourself to be a republican” and will not participate in
any other parties caucus this year.
- Do I need to register or notify
my county party prior to participating?
As long as you are registered to vote you just need to show up where
your precinct is caucusing.
- Is my vote going to be made
public?
There
are two parts to the caucus. When you sign in, you will be asked to
state your presidential preference - this will be considered your vote
for the presidential straw poll. This vote will be a public vote in
your caucus but it will not be made available to the general public.
Then at the caucus you will undertake the important business of
electing delegates. This is your vote that actually counts. The Straw
poll is just a snapshot of who caucus attendees support, but the
ultimate determiner of which candidates wins Washington’s delegates
will be the delegates elected at the precincts caucuses.
- What happens after the caucus?
How do I know if my candidate has won?
After
the caucus, delegates will show up at their county caucuses, where they
will elect delegates to the State Convention, finally at the State
Convention they will elect delegates to the national convention. The
ultimate “winner” of Washington’s delegates will not be determined
until the State Convention on May 30th- June2nd. However, the straw
poll results will be distributed to the press the day of the March 3rd
caucuses. So you will be able to see then who most Washingtonians voted
for. These early results are non-binding.