For the first time, Idaho Republicans are trying presidential preference caucuses on Tuesday. Jonathan Parker, the state party’s executive director, is excited about the chance to hold party-building exercises on such a broad scale. ” For the first time, maybe ever, Idaho is relevant in the nominating process,” he says. But as much as he relishes the attention — Mitt Romney held a rally in Idaho Falls last week — Parker worries that the state GOP could generate the wrong kind of publicity. That is, if the Idaho caucuses turn out to be as screwed up as those in several other states this year.
“Caucus voting looks like the Wild West of voting,” says Cathy Cox, a former Democratic secretary of state in Georgia. “Anything goes — there seem to be no protocols, no process, no safeguards.”
And this year that confusion could grow: According to the website FrontloadingHQ, 13 states are holding Republican caucuses — up from nine in 2000 and 11 in 2008. Besides Idaho, Alaska and North Dakota also hold caucuses on Super Tuesday.
Full Article: Caucus Confusion: A Recurring Headache For GOP : NPR.