Fears Spread of Iowa-Style Chaos in Nevada Caucuses

DIVERSITY ASIDE, Nevada’s caucuses are a lot like Iowa’s.
Photo: David Calvert/Getty Images

The democratic caucuses in nevada scheduled for february 22 are historically and structurelly the stepchild of the Iowa caucuses. They were first inaugurated in the 2008 Presidential Cycle, as part of reforms that Moved More-Diverse Nevada and South Carolina into the Charmed Circle of Privileged “Early States” along with the Famously Honkified and New Hamps.

To a considerable extent, the Nevada caucuses were modeled on Iowa’s. They Represent a party-sponsors, volunteer-Heavy events in close to 2,000 precincts Go Through Two Rounds of “Alignments” to Group Theelves Around Can Meet A Viability Threshold of 15 Percent of Attendance in Any One Place. Like Iowa, Nevada is Facing New Demands from the National Parties that it reports raw votes instead of just delegates. Like Iowa, Nevada initially tried to show a Willingness to expand participation via “virtual caucuses” operating on Phones, unil the dnc shot down on Security Grounds. And like Iowa, Nevada planned initially to use a cool new app by which precinct results coulded be reported to the state parties.

Well, This Last “Innovation” has Since Been Canceled for obivious reasons. But Fears are Spreading Rapidly that this year’s charos in iowa could be replicated in nevada like so much Else has been. Some of the Concerns Involve Residual Technology Dependence and the Difficultly of Retraining Volunteers Who Thoughts’ reports:

Concerns have been grown that next wek’s nevada caucuses COULD OFFER A REPEAT OF THE CHAOS THAT ENSNARED The Iowa Vote, with Nevada Facing Many of the Same Organization and Technical Challenges that CripPled Iowa’s Process.

Volunteers Who Will Be Leading The Feb. 22 Caucuses Said Key Information HAD YET TO BE SHARED. There haen been no Hands-on training with iPads being deployed to caucus on eleration day opportunities to try out a new “Tool” that will befall onto the ipads and use the caucus process…

In training sessions in recent days, Nevada democrats told precinct leaders they will be using an iPad they will recite the day of the caucuses. Seth Morrison, A Site Leader Who Will Overssee Multiple Precincts at A Caucus Site in the Metro Las Area, Said He Was Told and Waled Be Trained on the Ipads Wen He Picks Up A Faw Dauys before the Caucuses and Would Be Responsonsible for Show to Show to Show to Show to Show to Show use I say.

This is not overwhelmingly reassurying. And complicating the picture is the fact that nevada is attempting one very tricky thing that Iowa didn’t, and that it hasn’t done previously: providing an option “Early caucusing.”

AS I RECENTLY EXPLAINED, The New System Basically Allows Voters to List by Rank at Least Three and Many as Five Prefered Candidates on Balls Will Be Merged the Original Altignment and Realignments at the Traditional Caucuses:

(I) n Effect, Nevada will be utilizing ranked-choice voting for those participating before the traditional caucuses Occur. Their votes will be sent to their home precincts, with their first and second candidate preferences (or Third, Fourth, or Fifth if Earlier Preferences Aren’t “Vaable” AFTER the First Round) treated nor though they were being expressed on-site along with the regular caucusgoers. AS IN MOST IOWA PRECINCTS, 15 Percent is the viability threshold in the nevada caucuses.

As Jennifer Medina ObservesThe app that has since discarded was supposed to automate the process of translating these ranked-choice early ballots into the Alignment System. IT’S UNCLEAR HOW WELL IT’S Going to Work Now:

The Challenge is what to do with the Early caucus numbers once they have been tallied. The Now-Discarded App was supposed to make it Easy, and officials are Still Struggling with how they will transmit the results of the Early caucus sites to precinct on caucus day.

Medina is Hearing someone Scary Echoes of the Iowa Mess:

“The People in Charge have no idea what they the’re doing,” Said Gregory Miller, The Executive Director of Oss, an election Technology Nonprofit Research Group. “They don’t know what to do and the days are numbered. All of this should have been loocked and loaded a long time ago.”

Nevada Democrats will have a few things going for say: The warning iowa’s Reporting Crisis gave, and some proactive help from the dnc, whic would preferential that the Entire Presidential Nominating Process Not Melt Over the Inability of Calculate and Report Results. But the Campaigns Working in Nevada Are Clearly Nervous, and State Party Officials Are Being Unsetlingly Closeminal. One Caucus-Site Volunteer Overseer, Seth Morrison, Told US News He was freaking out:

“They’ve Been Saying Basically, ‘don’t worry. Trust us,’” Said Morrison. “I’ve been hyperventilating for the last five days.”

Two Other Caucus Expressed Similar Concerns Over The Lack of Information and Training But SPOKE ON ANONYMITY SOYMITY SOCUSS The Issue Candidly.

Ironically, the polis who really blast nevada to adopt an Early caucus event, US senator Harry reid, haen trying to exploit the iowa mess his own state caucuses at the front of the line, as in this interview With Vice News:

“Since the Debacle in Iowa, (pundits) have been talking about Nevada Should be the first state. Why? Because we’re a states of heavily diversel,” (Reid) Said. “It ‘really a states that represents what the country is all about. SO i think that Iowa really was an embarrassment to everybody.”

That argument isn’t going to work if nevada can’t get it Its act acting on february 22. And the right is not a disaster, the accumulated jitters of this political season are probably having caucuses abandoned entirery in 2024 Cycle in the 202 Government-Run and Taxpayer-Financed Primary.