The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Democrats in the state of Washington will get their only real chance to choose their presidential nominee on Saturday, March 26 at their precinct caucuses.

By the time the primary rolls around in May, it will be too late. The democratic nominee for president will be decided by a delegate count, determined by the caucus process.

“The primary is imposed by the legislature,” Hans York said, “we allocate based on the caucuses, so yes, this is the event that matters.”

York is Vice-Chair for the Wahkiakum Democratic Party.

The caucus should take about two hours. After everyone is signed in, a precinct captain will be chosen. This person will explain the rules. The sign in sheets, which include a place to select a nominee, will be collected and the votes will be counted. Then participants will have an opportunity to discuss the candidates and try to bring undecided voters to their side. At that time a second tally will be taken. Delegates will be allotted according to the second count. The event will end with a discussion of resolutions for the state convention in June and the results of the precinct caucus will be sent to the state party.

The caucus for Wahkiakum democrats is scheduled to take place in Cathlamet in the multipurpose room of the J.A. Wendt Elementary School at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 26.

According to http://www.wa-democrats.org, voters in Washington state are not required to register by party. Participants in the caucuses will be asked to affirm that they are democrats when they sign in. Only registered voters or people who turn 18 between the local caucus and November 8, 2016 will be able to vote for the democratic nominee for president.

Voter registration forms will be on hand.

You can preregister for the event at http://www.wa-democrats.org/page/2016-democratic-caucuses or sign in when you get there.