The Caucus Experience

After voting in the morning at 7am, and a long day that followed, my girlfriend and I returned to the polling place a bit before 7pm. The last voters finished up around 7:30, and the disorder that followed seemed to be the rule for the inexperienced Texas caucusgoers — with some caucuses lasting well into the AM as reader Bibi reported.

Several precincts shared our polling location, perhaps about 400 people altogether. At the beginning of the caucus, we broke into precinct groups and started individual conferences. My precinct was the largest, but also appeared to be the least experienced and familiar with the rules. By the time we had finished registering our names and preferences, an adjacent caucus — led by someone clearly experienced with the process — was already wrapping up. Registration was divided into separate lines for Clinton, Obama, and Other. This contributed to the wait, as it was clearly shaping up to be a lopsided victory and one of the lines remained empty with the other wrapping around the back of the room. As a result, the lines were consolidated, and began to proceed more quickly.

To expedite the caucus process, votes for Chair and Secretary were taken during registration. The person with ‘the packet’ initializing the caucus did not have a strong enough voice to carry across the noisy room, however, resulting in confusion, break of procedure, and incorrect votes. In response, the crowd moved towards the front of the room, and restarted using someone with a much stronger voice. Even then, though, the inexperience resulted in repeated checking of the rules packet.

After registration was completed and officials elected, potential county delegates each made a short speech announcing their intentions and affiliation. The votes were tallied, and to no one’s surprise, Obama won our precinct on a 3-to-1 margin. This resulted in a 11-4 delegate break. About 1.5 hours into the process, we finally broke into candidate conferences to select our county delegates. In the Obama camp, 13 people had volunteered. The group discussed the option that, instead of holding individual votes, 2 people could retract their candidacy. Two of the candidates sat down, and the remaining 11 delegate candidates were unanimously confirmed.At this point, we were getting a bit tired and hungry and decided to go have dinner. At the time I left, the Hillary group was debating which 4 delegates they would select.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the hybrid caucus system and believe it is a good method of balancing the need for a candidate who is not only popular but also organized at a grassroots level. It clearly would have been better if it had been more organized and more efficient, but it was still a worthwhile experience.

Our caucus was set up the same way. The biggest problem for us was that the last regular voters left after 11. Then they spent time setting up. My brother was a precinct captain in the Copperfield area. He left at about 11, but had a better experience. He and his wife did stick around to be a delegates. ABC 13 were live on the scene with us. Helecopters were circuling aroud our heads. It was in the local news. However, I have to say the setting was friendly between supporters for both candidates. We frequently crossed to each others side to kid around with each other.:)(But my feet still hurt)

P.S. Are you calling me a liar. I can prove it. Log on to http://www.abc13.com

Huh? No, I’m just saying that while my caucus had some difficulty, it wasn’t nearly as crazy as yours was. I’m not doubting anything you said, to the contrary, I’m using it as my example.

I have updated the language to be more clear.