By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

The Nevada Republican Party caucus will take place on Saturday, February 4. All six of the local voting precincts will be meeting at the Moapa Valley High School. All Moapa Valley voters who are registered as Republicans may arrive at the high school at 8:00 a.m. for caucus registration and then to attend their various precinct meetings beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Local Republicans are being encouraged to pre-register for the caucus online at www.ccrp2012caucus.org. Attendees will be required to show a government issued photo ID at registration.

Clark County Republican Party Chairman Dave Gibbs stated that pre-registration might clear up an area of confusion that may arise this year.

“About 85% of the precinct numbers changed this year due to the redistricting process,” Gibbs said. “So if you think you know your precinct number from years past, or even if you have a voter registration card showing your precinct number, that number might have changed. When people pre-register online they receive an updated precinct number so there shouldn’t be any confusion.”

But there is a time limit to pre-register. Online pre-registration must be completed by Thursday evening, February 2, Gibbs said. Gibbs emphasized that even Republican voters who have not done the online pre-registration are encouraged to participate in the meetings.

“Don’t NOT go just because you don’t know your precinct,” Gibbs said. “We encourage you to come in that morning and we can get it for you.”

This year’s Republican caucus has special significance. Nevada will be the first state in the west to select its preference of Presidential candidates.

In this year’s caucus, voters will have the opportunity to speak for the candidate of their choice in their precinct meeting. Then a paper ballot of all precinct members in attendance will be cast. The results of the vote in each precinct will be announced at the meetings. But these results will be done in a way new for Nevada voters. This time, it is not a winner-take-all vote. It is a proportional vote.

In a proportional vote, the number of Nevada delegates to the Republican National Convention that are committed to a candidate depends on how well that candidate did in the Presidential Preference Poll. For example, if candidate “A” received 25% (¼) of the votes overall when all the precinct results in Nevada are tallied, then candidate “A” will have 25% of the Nevada delegates assigned to vote for him on the first round of voting at the national convention.

In addition to the Presidential Preference Poll, precinct members will vote for delegates to represent their precinct at the Clark County Republican Convention. They will also have the opportunity to provide input to the party platform.