Area Republicans turn out to caucus

By BOBBIE GREEN & VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Local volunteers were kept busy on Thursday night, Feb. 8 by a large turnout of voters at the Nevada Republican caucus. Voters were faced with long lines from the moment the doors were open at 5 pm all the way until closing time at 7:30.

Caucus volunteers hustled to check in the constant stream of voters, each of whom was required to show a photo ID and provide a signature next to their name on the voter rolls before they were given a paper ballot.

Once check-in was complete, the process was quick. Each voter put a check mark next to their preferred candidate, then dropped it in a ballot box waiting for them at well-marked precinct tables.
Front-runner candidate Donald Trump was the overwhelming preference of the participants at the local caucus sites.

In Mesquite a total of 1,062 votes were cast with 1,052 of them going to Trump. Ten went to Ryan Binkley, the only other alternative on the caucus ballot.

The Moapa Valley site saw a turnout of 545 voters with 538 going to Trump. The other 7 went to Binkley.

There were a few other hiccups in the process, due to the large turnout of people in a short window of time and some organizational issues.

Parking became a problem at both the Moapa Valley High School and Virgin Valley High School where the local caucuses were held.

In addition, there was some confusion about the caucus location for Bunkerville voters. For some reason, the Clark County GOP had assigned the Bunkerville voting precinct to caucus in Moapa Valley rather than in Mesquite. But most of the Bunkerville participants had not been informed of this. Instead, they came to the more convenient Mesquite location to vote. They were informed that they had to travel across the mesa to caucus in Overton.

Many of these voters left frustrated. Only five of them actually made the trip to Moapa Valley where there precinct ballot box was waiting for them.

Bunkerville resident Barb King was one of those five voters. “I stood in line at Virgin Valley High School for a long time waiting to get to the front, only to be told that I was in the wrong place,” King said. “So I came here and had to stand in line again. It was all pretty confusing and didn’t make much sense.”

Another issue arose at the Moapa Valley caucus site. With people still waiting in line, the site ran out of official paper ballots. The county GOP had underestimated the number of ballots to send in order to cover the turnout. Site coordinator Marcus Jensen had to scramble a bit and communicate with Republican officials in Las Vegas to determine what to do. For the remainder of the voters, the volunteers created their own paper ballots. Jensen had to personally sign each one to make it valid.
Despite all these issues, most of the participants were good-natured and understanding, using the time to socialize with their neighbors.

“I am so pleased to see the great turnout for the caucus and especially happy to see so many families that all came together to vote, from Grandma to Grandchild,” said Virgin Valley voter Kelly Robertson. “Our voices need to be heard.”

Phil Mullins, a Moapa Valley veteran, said that he was pleased to be there to participate in the process. “Yes it was a long wait in line,” he said. “But the volunteers here did a great job in a kind of hectic situation. It wasn’t a difficult process at all.”

Earlier in the week, both Republicans and Democrats went to the polls to participate in the state’s Presidential Preference Primary election.

Democrats in the state overwhelming preferred President Joe Biden giving him 89 percent of the vote.
Republicans preferred the ‘None of these Candidates’ option on the ballot which received 63 percent. Trump’s last remaining Republican challenger Nikki Haley also appeared on the primary ballot receiving 30 percent statewide. Turnout was extremely low on both sides.

The State GOP has insisted that the primary election will not count in the choice of which delegates represent the state at the Republican National Convention this summer. The only deciding factor will be the caucus, they have said.