2020 caucus plan slated

The Nevada Democratic Party will hold a meeting in Tonopah at the end of the month to seek approval of its new plan for the Nevada presidential caucuses. The meeting will not be teleconferenced, local Democratic officials are being told by the state party, because Tonopah is not a good site for it. However, teleconferencing has been done routinely in the town by health care entities, the state judiciary and legal groups, and others in the last couple of years. Fibre optic upgrades were made in Nye County for just this purpose in late 2016 and early 2017.

In a release by the county’s electric co-op on Jan. 30, 2017, county information tech director Milan Dimic said, “We had many issues with response times before, including delays that were intolerable. The connections were inconsistent and unpredictable. Bandwidth would drop with no warning. Since the fiber was installed, I’ve had zero complaints.”

The caucus plan comes after complaints from participants who want to be heard but don’t want to participate in the traditional caucus process. They just want to vote and go, akin to a primary, and the plan is reported to accommodate them. In addition, the plan is reported to reduce the chance of a candidate gaining votes between the caucuses and the Democratic state convention based on subsequent, post-Nevada events, as Bernie Sanders was able to do in 2016, though his gains did not give him control of the Nevada convention, where national convention delegates are named.

The plan can be read at https://bit.ly/2U5y8j7.