Washington Democrats gather Saturday to pick delegates for Clinton, Sanders

To caucus, or not to caucus, might not necessarily be the question.

For many, how to caucus is more accurate. In that regards, the Spokane County Democrats are several steps ahead of the rest of their blue brethren in the state with the creation of the "Guide to the 2016 Precinct Caucuses in Spokane County," a combination how-to and process overview to be used this Saturday at locations throughout the county.

"We don't know of anyone else doing it," Spokane County Democratic Party chair Jim CastroLang said.

Democrats gather to select delegates for presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The process is emblematic of a true democracy in that delegates selected locally Saturday could conceivably advance all the way to the Democratic National Convention July 25 – 28 in Philadelphia.

But the process can also be complicated, one of the reasons why Spokane County Democrat officials sought to create the guide.

"It's truly grassroots," CastroLang said. "The more you turn this into a people process, though, the more complicated it gets."

CastroLang said local officials saw the problems that took place in earlier caucuses in Nevada and Iowa and sought to eliminate those through the guide. The biggest problem was the long lines to get into the caucuses created because voters either weren't registered or didn't know their precinct numbers.

"We're not going to have those (lines)," CastroLang said. "If you know your precinct, you go right to your table."

Both CastroLang and 6th Legislative District vice chair and caucus jurisdiction coordinator Donald Dover stressed the importance, and ease, of finding a caucus participant's precinct number. Democrats can do this by going to http://www.demcaucus.com where by typing in their name and address can not only find their precinct but their caucus location and pre-register to participate.

Dover said there are 42 Spokane County precincts meeting this Saturday in the Cheney High School gymnasium, most west of the city of Spokane and south of the city of Spokane Valley. There are about 25,000 registered voters in these precincts, of which only 3,500 voted for Democratic Party candidates in 2014.

"I would love to have that many voters come to caucus," Dover, who will be the host/coordinator at Cheney High, said. "However, I suspect that far fewer voters will actually turnout to participate in the caucus. I would be thrilled to host 700 voters in the Cheney High School gymnasium."

There are several reasons for using a caucus system. Because Washington voters don't express party preference when registering, the caucus helps Democrats and its endorsed candidates identify "like-minded" voters when it comes to issues and campaigns. And there's the fact that delegates selected at the caucus level could be part of the 119 - including three women and two men from the 5th Congressional District - sent from Washington to the national convention, as compared to a primary system where delegates are selected by political party insiders and/or presidential campaign workers.

The process this Saturday is straightforward. Upon arriving at the caucus location, pre-registered voters go straight to their precinct tables, which will be clearly marked.

Volunteers from the various Democratic campaigns will assist those who haven't registered to caucus in finding their precincts. Once inside, the caucus starts at 10 a.m. with preliminary business, including filling out caucus sign-in forms by those not registered and review of the caucus guide.

At about 10:30 a.m., each table will begin working by selecting a chair, if one has not been already appointed, to run the precinct meeting. A secretary and tally clerk are appointed, and participants indicate their candidate preference, or if they are uncommitted, by turning in their sign-in forms.

Delegates are allocated to each candidate and undecided, via a formula. After that, CastroLang said the most complicated part of the process begins - discussing the candidates.

Three minutes are allocated for discussion of the pros and cons of each candidate and for being uncommitted. That's three minutes pro for Clinton, three minutes con and the same for Sanders and uncommitted - 15 minutes total.

After the discussion, a second tally is taken, and if different from the first, delegates are re-allocated accordingly. Delegates and alternates to the next level, the Legislative District Caucus April 17, are chosen, tallied results turned in along with any resolutions - which are addressed via a committee and at the Spokane County Democratic Convention - and the process is complete.

The earliest the caucus can wrap up is 11 a.m., and most don't run much longer than that. With the help of the guide, which can be viewed online at http://bit.ly/SpokaneCaucus/Guide, CastroLang and others hope the process is a relatively smooth one.

"The goal is that it will turn this from chaos into organized chaos," he said.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].