Friends friends!
If you love Barack like I do, you will get off your duff and caucus this Saturday, February 9th! Ignore your Voters Pamphlet: YOUR VOTE IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING. In the state of Washington, Democratic candidates are determined by the CAUCUS. No, I can't explain why we have both; we just do.
The WA Caucus is happening this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Find out where your caucus location is here: http://www.wa-democrats.or
So what's the deal with a caucus? 1) You actually have to SHOW UP 2) The candidate with the most people physically IN THE ROOM at each location will win the biggest percentage of delegates. Kinda old timey, eh? Yes! Fun!
How it works:
1) You show up at your precinct's caucus location. Technically the first vote does not happen until 1:30 p.m. (If someone tries to convene that shit early, you have every right to raise a fuss and call foul!). SHOW UP EARLY. Showing up early = less chaos = a big huge obvious Obama presence. Fact: I'm going at noon.
2) Most locations will have a precinct captain who will run the show. They'll have the sign in sheets, tally forms etc. MAKE SURE YOU'RE IN THE RIGHT LOCATION FOR YOUR PRECINCT!! Once there, just hang out and wait for directions. Cowlitz County peeps, I don't know if CoCo is as organized as King Co, but if you need help/don't now what the F to do, feel free to call your friends at the Seattle Office at (206) 529-3859. Or call me at (206) 409-5054 because my caucus location is downtown Seattle and we will have knowledgeable people up the wazoo.
3) At 1:30, you'll vote for the first time. Once this vote is taken, they'll announce the number of delegates each candidate would win at this point. If there are undecided voters, this is your opportunity to win them over! Be nice! Don't fight! Now is also the time for a designated person from each candidate's group will give a 1 minute declaration on why they're voting for their candidate.
4) After these speeches, anyone who wishes to change his/her vote will have the opportunity to do so. Then the second and final vote will be counted.
5) Don't leave yet! Once all of the votes are counted, and all of the delegates divvied, people actually need to be appointed delegates. So, say your precinct gives out 7 delegates, and Barack gets 5 of them. Well, five people need to actually BE THERE to stand as delegates. If there are only, say, four people left, the delegates go to Hill! DONT DO THIS!
6) If you're want to fight your way all the way to the National Convention in Denver, be a delegate! Being a delegate means being counted at a few different caucuses before then, but, FUN!
Good things to know:
1) Percentage of people = percentage of delegates. If the Barack/Hill ratio is 70/30, Barack will get 70% of the delegates.
2) There are great resources online for info on caucusing:
- This guy taught me to caucus, and knows everything: http://my.barackobama.com/
- WA Democrats: http://www.wa-democrats.or
3) You don't have to be a registered Democrat to caucus for Barack! Independents! Republicans! If you're into Barack, caucus!
4) In fact, you don't even have to be registered to vote to caucus for Barack! Just show up and you can register there!
Also, I know just a little more than a little about this, so if you need any additional info, lemme know! I'm happy to figure out the answers for you if I don't know them! Seattleites, the Obama Headquarters downtown is open from 9-9 everyday and staffed with awesome volunteers who can answer a million more questions than I can, as well. 614 1st Ave (phone number above).
Yay for 2008!
Oh yeah, Republicans and Hillary fans can caucus too, but I'm not going to encourage either, so you're on your own with those deets :)
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