Republican voters here in Hawaii will begin choosing their Presidential nominees in March. The Hawaii Republican Party made changes to this year’s Caucuses, hoping to attract more people to vote GOP. It’ll be very similar to the Democratic Caucuses in 2008, which as you may recall had a record turnout.
The Hawaii Republican Party will hold its Presidential Caucuses on Tuesday, March 13th from 6pm to 8pm. “Everyone goes, votes. At 8pm they’ll close, count the ballots and the votes will be allocated to a proportional method to each of the Presidential candidates they vote for,” said David Chang, Hawaii Republican Party Chair.
In the past, Republican Caucuses were more informal, happening over the course of several days at homes, businesses and parks, mainly to choose the delegates that would go to the State Convention. But this time around, party members will directly vote for the candidates.
“To be on the ballot each of the Presidential campaigns have to pay a $5K ballot fee and form a three man committee here,” said Chang.
So far, candidates Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have paid.
Newt Gingrich said he’ll pay soon.
And Rick Santorum told the Hawaii Republican Party he’ll get back to them.
“Let’s just say those four are on our ballot. So when you go to the polling location you’ll see four on the ballot, and you’ll also be able to do a write-in. And out of the four you’ll choose one of them,” said Chang.
Full Article: Hawaii Republican Party changes caucuses in hopes of gaining more members | KHON2 Hawaii’s News Leader.