Democrats double down

COEUR d’ALENE — The Democratic salvo in Idaho’s presidential nomination process will get underway tomorrow night in two locations in Kootenai County.

The Kootenai County Democrats will begin their presidential caucuses at 6 p.m. tomorrow night in two locations at the Boswell Hall Performing Arts Center on the North Idaho College campus and the Jacklin Building at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

The second location was announced last week after pre-registration indicates a record-setting turnout is expected statewide, according to Dean Ferguson, a spokesman for the State Democratic Party.

“I think it is safe to say this is truly a historic year,” Ferguson said in an interview Friday. “Kootenai County isn’t the only place this happening in Idaho.”

Ferguson said Bannock County just increased the size of its venue on Friday and Boise has had to double its Caucus space as well. He attributes the increased size of the voting block to several factors, but said the single most contributing factor would be the party’s work to increase its ranks.

“That combined with the strong campaigns from Bernie (Sanders) and (Hillary) Clinton, have really created a lot of interest,” Ferguson said, adding Sanders’ visit to Boise and Spokane has increased interest as well. “I think the Republicans are helping us too. A lot of people aren’t real happy with the Republican front runners, and I mean that plural.”

Doors will open at both locations starting at 4:30 p.m. and must close to further arrivals at 6 p.m. At NIC on-campus parking permits are not required after 2 p.m., after that parking is readily available and free.

Organizers said observers and the media are invited as well as any qualified Kootenai County voter who did not participate in the recent Republican presidential primary election.

Ferguson said a large crowd is expected, so those wishing to participate in the caucus voting are urged to sign up for the caucus ahead of time at kootenaidemocrats.org.

“People aren’t required to reserve their seats but it is highly recommended as it cuts your check-in time from five minutes to one minute,” Ferguson said, adding the Democrats do not require registration, identification, proof of address or party affiliation.

The only caveat is if people voted in the March 8 Republican primary, Ferguson said they cannot vote in the Democratic caucus.

The purpose of the event is to have participants vote for their favorite Democratic candidate for president, but also choose delegates committed to those candidates to go to the State Democratic Convention in Boise on June 16-19.

Those delegates participating in Boise will choose delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Philadelphia on July 26-29 and help develop the Idaho Democratic platform.

Ferguson said once the doors close at 6 p.m. the caucusing will commence with stump speeches from each of the candidates and then there will be a vote.

There are four choices on the ballot: uncommitted, Hillary Clinton, Rocky De La Fuente and Bernie Sanders.

At both locations volunteers will tally the votes and coordinate with each other to determine the countywide results, and then another round of speeches will get underway followed by another vote.

“There will be at least two votes, and no more than three votes,” he said. “There will be a lot of coordination between the two locations. The cellphone makes that achievable.”

Adding a second location did create a demand for more volunteers, and it will also put some pressure on the campaign to ensure they have strong stump speeches at both locations, Ferguson said.

Once the last caucus round is tallied, any candidate that fails to achieve 15 percent of the vote will be eliminated.

Delegates are awarded using a proportional system based on the results of the final caucus round. In the result of an exact tie in the number of voters, a coin toss will be used.

Most caucuses will last a minimum of 2 hours once they begin.

Ferguson said the process leading up to this year’s caucus has been a challenge, but the party is working hard to make sure it all goes well.”

“Through it all, we have persevered to run the most effective and open caucus there is,” he said. “Our staff has been working round the clock, 85-95 hour weeks, for the last month to get everything ready in time to ensure a smooth, fun process.”

Ferguson said participants can check out Idaho Democrats website for a detailed overview of how caucuses work.