Utah: Proposed constitutional amendment would counter Count My Vote initiative | Deseret News

A proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting infringement on a political party’s right to nominate candidates for public office could be on the November election ballot. Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, is sponsoring the measure to counter the Count My Vote initiative to replace Utah’s unique caucus and convention system with direct primaries, which might also be on the ballot this fall. Also, the Senate scheduled a floor debate on SB54 — legislation that would allow parties to avoid direct primaries — for 11 a.m. Thursday. Jenkins sees his resolution, SJR15, as complementary to the bill but also an attempt to thwart the Count My Vote effort. The group must gather more than 100,000 signatures to put its measure before voters in November.

Utah: Bill to Head Off ‘Count My Vote’ Moves Out of Committee | Utah Policy

Sen. Curt Bramble calls the “Count My Vote” initiative a “gun to the head” of Utah’s political parties. If the CMV initiative gets on the ballot and passes in November, it would do away with the state’s caucus and convention system for nominating candidates in favor of a direct primary. Bramble says CMV backers and Utah’s political parties were unable to find a middle ground, so that’s why he’s sponsoring SB 54, which is a compromise between the two positions – and would essentially make the “Count My Vote” initiative a moot point. “The best kind of political compromise is where both sides can claim victory,” Bramble told a packed Senate committee hearing room on Friday morning. “I crafted this bill so that both sides don’t get what they want. Under the legislation, ‘Count My Vote’ gets what they were asking for from the parties, while the parties get to keep the caucus system if they meet certain criteria.”

Iowa: Changes in store for caucuses | The Des Moines Register

No remedies have yet been put in place to heal the Iowa GOP’s black eye from the vote-count embarrassment that unfolded after the 2012 Iowa presidential caucuses. Two years ago today, Rick Santorum was announced as the official winner based on a certified vote, reversing Mitt Romney’s eight-vote win announced after 1 a.m. on caucus night. Both Republican and Democratic leaders say Iowa’s leadoff spot in presidential voting is assured for the 2016 cycle, but beyond then, its privileged position remains precarious. The 2012 GOP debacle escalated ever-present criticism, and other states constantly maneuver in an attempt to grab the leadoff voting prize. Iowa Republican Party officials say changes in caucus procedures will be made this spring. They’ve been carefully weighing options, working in concert with the national party, Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker said.

Utah: GOP Adds Same-Day Ballots to Caucus System | Utah Policy

Last month, the big news coming out of Utah Republican Party State Central Committee meeting was the race to replace former Attorney General John Swallow. But, the group also changed a key rule in its caucus system for nominating candidates. The SCC voted to allow a caucus attendee to bring same-day ballots to a caucus meeting on behalf of three others. Utah Republican Party Secretary Michelle Mumford believes the “Count My Vote” citizen’s initiative prompted the change. “I think that’s great,” she said. “Voluntary reforms from within always have the greater, longer-lasting, positive effect. I welcome the catalyst that CMV has become.” Right now, the caucus system allows candidates at party conventions with enough votes from delegates chosen at those caucus meetings to qualify for the general ballot. CMV would trash that system by allowing any candidate who gets signatures from 2 percent of his party’s registered voters in his district, or office, to get on the ballot.

Utah: Battle over caucus and convention system heats up | Deseret News

Republicans have taken “a great first step” toward improving Utah’s unique system for selecting party nominees by approving absentee ballots and other changes, state GOP Chairman James Evans said Monday. The changes were made by the Utah Republican Party Central Committee on Saturday, the same day the Count My Vote initiative petition drive to replace the nominating system with a direct primary election began collecting signatures. Evans described the initiative as the “agitation” that prompted action. “These were changes that were certainly needed,” he said. “I think the fact that Count My Vote is pushing to eliminate the caucus system, most certainly the party has taken note.”

Utah: GOP approves some changes to caucus system | The Spectrum

Utah’s Republican Party approved some changes to the state’s system for electing candidates in an effort to stave off an initiative that seeks to replace it. GOP leaders took the action at a special meeting in Fillmore on Saturday, the same day a petition drive began to replace the current caucus and convention nominating system with direct primaries. Republican leaders said the changes will make it easier for more people to participate in neighborhood caucuses to ensure results represent the will of the people. Among other things, they decided to allow absentee voting for people unable to attend evening caucuses and early online registration to speed up the check-in process.

Utah: Democrats vote to keep caucus-convention system | The Salt Lake Tribune

Escaping mostly unscathed from some intraparty sparring, Utah Democrats elected to keep their caucus/convention system intact Saturday, arguing that a switch to an open primary would be too costly and, therefore, prohibitive to common-folk candidates. Following two hours of sharp debate during their state party organizing convention in downtown Ogden, Democratic delegates voted 53.3 percent to 46.6 percent to keep the status quo. But party insiders pledged to spend the next year exploring improvements — including a possible hybrid system that could set a lower vote threshold at convention to allow candidates onto a primary ballot. “There is nothing built in and I anticipate tremendous dialogue now,” Democratic Chairman Jim Dabakis said after the vote. “My sense is people want more primaries. This preserves that option.”

Utah: GOP weighs next step in election reforms | Daily Herald

Utah Republicans pushing reforms in their state caucus and convention system are weighing their next move after the GOP rejected efforts that would force more candidates into primaries. Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt is among the prominent Republicans in the group Count My Vote, which wants to increase the number of votes required in a nominating convention before a candidate can forgo a primary. GOP delegates rejected proposals on Saturday to raise the current 60 percent threshold to either 66.6 percent or 70 percent.

Maine: Bill to create Maine presidential primary, adopt ranked-choice voting comes with hefty price tag | Bangor Daily News

Maine would replace party caucuses with a nonpartisan presidential primary and elect its governor, legislators and federal officials with ranked-choice voting under a system proposed Monday in the Legislature. The multimillion-dollar cost of implementing the bill could prove to be its biggest challenge, given the state’s financial situation, according to the state’s election chief. Rep. Deane Rykerson, D-Kittery, who introduced LD 1422 to the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee on Monday, said that his proposal would eliminate the state’s caucusing and party-by-party primary system in favor of a single primary election in which candidates would have the option of declaring their party membership or not. Rykerson said the system would prompt more voters to cast ballots based on the candidate and not his or her political party.

Texas: Caucus versus primary: Party leaders consider costs, role of voters in candidate selection | Daily News Journal

The 2014 race for county mayor, sheriff and four other offices will start out with either party primaries offered to all voters or caucuses where a limited number will decide the nominees. To help the county save money during tough economic times in 2010, the Republican and Democratic parties agreed to hold caucuses for mayor, sheriff, trustee, county clerk, register of deeds and Circuit Court clerk. The cost for a countywide primary that would be May 6, 2014, will come to an estimated $110,000 to cover poll workers and voter machine expenses, said Nicole Lester, the administrator who oversees the full-time staff for the Rutherford County Election Commission.

Iowa: Terry Branstad: Time to kill Iowa Straw Poll | Washington Post

After 33 years, the Ames Straw Poll should be scrapped, says the state’s Republican governor. “I think the straw poll has outlived its usefulness,” Gov. Terry Branstad told the Wall Street Journal of the Iowa Republican tradition. “It has been a great fundraiser for the party but I think its days are over.” Two years ago, Branstad warned prospective candidates that they shouldn’t skip the event. The straw poll is both a fundraiser and a test of candidates’ strength among Iowa Republican activists. Candidates pay for prime real estate near where the voting takes place; they also often buy tickets for supporters.

National: Military voting threatens caucuses | Politico.com

In an unexpected political twist, a move to include overseas military personnel and wounded warriors in the presidential nominating process could threaten the caucuses in Iowa and other states. At both the Republican and Democratic national conventions over the summer, delegates proposed rules changes to enhance the ability of overseas service members and injured troops to participate in the caucuses. A Republican rules change asserting that states “shall use every means practical to guarantee” the participation of overseas and injured service members in the presidential nominating process was designed to enhance military voting. But in the case of Iowa and other caucus states, where voters must be present to participate, it also has the side effect of forcing changes in traditional procedures — and raising questions about the future viability of the caucuses themselves.

Iowa: Republicans Plot Assault On Iowa Caucuses On Military Voter Issue | BuzzFeed

The Republican party is on the brink of dealing a major blow to Iowa’s traditional caucus system, with the process’ critics pointing to recent battles over military voting rights to make the case for ending traditional nominating contest. Chris Brown, Chairman of the Young Republican Federation of Alabama and a member of the Republican Convention’s Rules Committee, is expected introduce a measure tomorrow requiring states to use “every means practicable” to ensure that military voters can cast ballots in any process used in the Republican presidential nominating process, according to a person involved in the effort. The measure will be seconded by influential Ohio GOP chair Bob Bennett, who has been a member of the RNC for more than two decades, the source said. Caucuses — by definition in-person voting systems — would not satisfy the proposed rule, requiring dramatic changes to the process in Iowa and other caucus states, if not their outright abandonment. “The Rule will simply guarantee the right of military voters and wounded warriors to vote in the process of selecting the delegates who will choose our party’s presidential nominee,” wrote former RNC Chairman and former VA Secretary Jim Nicholson in an email to members of the Rules Committee, which was obtained by BuzzFeed, asking that they end “the inexcusable practice of disenfranchising military voters in our party’s presidential delegate selection process.”

Voting Blogs: So what’s going on in the Texas redistricting cases? | Texas Redistricting

After an extended period when the courts and parties were generating redistricting news it seemed almost hourly, things have gotten much quieter. In fact, in the  preclearance case in Washington, no pleadings, orders, notices, or advisories have been filed or entered since April 2.  Nada. And most parties seem to have more or less given up trying to predict when a ruling on the maps can be expected.

Idaho: Potential perfect storm of changes await Idaho voters next week | electionlineWeekly

Recently, an election official noted that “uncertainty is the enemy of election administration.” This year in Idaho, which holds its primary on May 15, not only has uncertainty been an enemy, but so has change. In addition to redistricting, the state legislature made several major changes to how Idahoans vote and that has left many local election officials scrambling to implement the changes and explain them to voters. This year will be Idaho’s first-ever closed primary. Every voter will have to declare a party affiliation for the first time. About a week before the election, the secretary of state’s office figured that about 85 percent of the state’s voters had yet to officially declare a party. “Redistricting and closed primaries have the potential of creating a perfect storm,” said Christopher Rich, clerk for Ada County. “We have done substantial outreach with the media and they have been very helpful in explaining closed primaries and directing the public to our web site for further information.” According to Sara Staub, Bingham County clerk, her county sent out new registration cards to registered voters, precinct by precinct and asked that they fill them out and designate their party so that this could be done prior to the primary election.

National: Americans Elect scraps virtual caucus for lack of early candidate support | The Post and Courier

A group clearing the path for an independent White House bid canceled the first phase of its search for a bipartisan ticket Tuesday because declared and draft candidates aren’t mustering enough preliminary support. Americans Elect scrapped a virtual caucus that had been planned for next week. Another round of voting set for May 15 also is in jeopardy; a third is to be held on May 22. Candidates must meet a certain threshold of support to be eligible for the caucuses.

Voting Blogs: Caucus System Cracks Revealed During 2012 GOP Primary Season | governing.com

When it comes to running elections and counting votes, states and counties have come a long way over the past dozen years. Nothing demonstrates their progress better than watching other people try to do the same job. During the Republican presidential primary campaign this year, several states were embarrassed by snafus with their caucuses, which are run by political parties rather than by public officials. In Iowa, an eight-vote election-night win for Mitt Romney was later converted into a 34-vote victory for Rick Santorum, with party officials admitting that they didn’t, in fact, know the actual number. (The state party chair resigned.) Counting was slow enough in Nevada to raise doubts during the delay, while in Maine, the GOP decided to declare Romney the statewide winner before some counties had even held their caucuses. “It’s been stunning to watch,” says Cathy Cox, a former Georgia secretary of state. “Caucus voting looks like the Wild West of voting.”

National: R.N.C. Rejects Changes to Nominating Contests for 2016 | NYTimes.com

Members of the Republican National Committee considered — and rejected — changes to their presidential nominating process for 2016 after a contest this year that some members say was too long and drawn out. At a meeting here of the R.N.C.’s rules committee, members debated whether to abandon the proportional voting that gave Mitt Romney’s rivals the ability to try and accumulate delegates even as they failed to win the nominating contests. Sue Everhart, a committee member from Georgia, proposed the change, citing concerns about the length of the competition. She suggested changes that would have allowed states to hold winner-take-all contests in 2016, potentially bringing the contest to a close more quickly.

Maine: Senate President Proposes Presidential Primary | MPBN

Maine’s Republican presidential caucuses were laced with controversy this year after candidates and voters charged that the entire process had been rigged to favor former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Many of the complaints stemmed from a decision by the state party’s hierarchy to exclude Washington County Republicans after a storm delayed a scheduled vote. Now a state senator from Washington County is advancing a bill that would give state party committees the option of holding a presidential primary instead of a caucus. Last month, Senate President Kevin Raye, a Republican from the Washington County town of Perry, was flabbergasted to learn state GOP party officials had declared Mitt Romney as the winner of a preferential poll without even considering the caucus votes of Washington County Republicans.

Missouri: St. Charles County Republicans embarrassed by caucus shutdown | St. Louis Today

St. Charles County Republicans were working to salvage their role in the primary process a day after a frustrating caucus meltdown that many said could have been avoided. St. Charles County was to have been the biggest prize on what was the most important day for Missouri Republicans hoping to help select their party’s nominee for president. Instead, Saturday’s St. Charles County caucus was shut down when tension flared between members of the crowd and the local GOP activists who were running the meeting. The meeting adjourned without awarding delegates — leaving county Republicans with unwelcomed scrutiny, and an uncertain role in the nominating process. Most likely, the caucus will be rescheduled, but when and in what form is unclear. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, because I don’t think this has ever happened before,” said St. Charles County Council member Joe Brazil.

Missouri: Raucous GOP caucus in St. Peters is shut down | St. Louis Today

Crowds and chaos rattled Missouri’s GOP caucuses on Saturday, threatening to put further scrutiny on a process that was already a national anomaly.
In St. Charles County, which was to have been the biggest single prize of the day, the caucus was shut down before delegates were chosen after a boisterous crowd objected to how the meeting was being run, including an attempted ban on videotaping. Two supporters of presidential hopeful Ron Paul were arrested. At other caucuses, participants gathered outdoors as the appointed locations turned out to be too small to accommodate crowds or waited for hours as organizers worked through procedural questions.

Missouri: Contention, confusion mar Missouri caucuses | USAToday.com

Contention and confusion marred various Republican caucuses in Missouri on Saturday, and one meeting was abruptly shut down, as impassioned supporters of Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul battled for an edge in the state’s complicated delegate selection process. A caucus at a school near St. Louis where roughly 2,500 Republicans had gathered was adjourned before a vote could take place because it got so rowdy that extra police were summoned and two people were arrested for trespassing. Elsewhere, political tensions and divisions led to recounts not only on votes over which candidates should be supported, but even which people should preside over the caucuses. “It looks like a chaotic day around Missouri,” said former senator Jim Talent, a Romney campaign adviser who participated in one of the more politically divided caucuses in St. Louis County.

Missouri: Contention, confusion mar Missouri caucuses | USAToday.com

Contention and confusion marred various Republican caucuses in Missouri on Saturday, and one meeting was abruptly shut down, as impassioned supporters of Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul battled for an edge in the state’s complicated delegate selection process. A caucus at a school near St. Louis where roughly 2,500 Republicans had gathered was adjourned before a vote could take place because it got so rowdy that extra police were summoned and two people were arrested for trespassing. Elsewhere, political tensions and divisions led to recounts not only on votes over which candidates should be supported, but even which people should preside over the caucuses. “It looks like a chaotic day around Missouri,” said former senator Jim Talent, a Romney campaign adviser who participated in one of the more politically divided caucuses in St. Louis County.

National: 2012: Year Of The Caucus Meltdown | TPM

With wild lead changes and candidates crashing spectacularly only to come back from the dead, nobody would call the GOP presidential race a smooth ride to the nomination. But it’s been almost as turbulent behind the scenes, where the actual process of coordinating and carrying out certain contests has hit snag after snag. Republicans around the country are struggling with an array of problems in states that use a caucus to determine their delegates this year, battling problems from low turnout to mysteriously missing votes. Caucuses, which require citizens to actively participate in a mini-convention with their neighbors in which supporters of each candidate make the case for their vote, are hailed by supporters as a way to energize the grassroots with a more involved approach than primaries. But they’re more time-consuming and complicated than simply dropping off a ballot, setting up more barriers to participation and creating more potential for things to go awry.

Guam: Guam and Saipan Make Tempting Targets for Delegate-Hungry GOP Candidates | The Daily Beast

Until this week, the last time Guam and Saipan were fought over was during World War II. However, as the GOP presidential primary season goes on and on and on and on, the caucuses held on Guam and Saipan, the main island of the Northern Mariana Islands, will loom surprisingly large. Because of the strange delegate math the GOP uses, these relatively unpopulated islands in the middle of Pacific Ocean will combine to send six more delegates to the Republican convention in Tampa as the crucial early state of New Hampshire. This normally would make for a quirky factoid, paired with the fact that Guam is apparently home to the world’s largest Kmart, or that Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, took off from the Northern Marianas. But the increasingly fraught nature of the Republican race means that their presidential caucuses tomorrow will actually matter.

Guam: Romney Wins GOP Caucus In US Territory Of Guam | Fox News

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney picked up nine more delegates Saturday, winning unanimous backing at the Guam GOP convention. Republicans on the tiny Pacific island decided to shun traditional paper ballots and all 215 eligible to vote at the convention backed Romney with a show of hands. Though Guam’s Republican National Convention delegates are technically uncommitted all nine had pledged to vote for the candidate chosen at the state convention, said Jerry Crisostomo, convention co-chair.

National: Caucus Confusion: A Recurring Headache For GOP | NPR

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.

National: Republicans rethink the caucus format | The Washington Post

Top Republicans are calling for a review of the methods used in presidential caucuses after a series of vote-counting mishaps in three early states. Maine on Tuesday became the latest state to fall victim to the caucus bug, with a local report noting that the state GOP declared Mitt Romney the winner of a close race without many localities reporting votes in the totals, including some that had submitted their results and some whose caucuses were set for later this month. It was just the latest foible in what has been a very rough year for the caucus format.

Nevada: Tempers flare at chaotic ‘sundown caucus’ | ReviewJournal.com

A Republican caucus event timed to accommodate observant Jews who wouldn’t break Sabbath devolved into a fracas about religion and politics and made for a feisty conclusion to Nevada’s presidential nominating process. Hundreds of people crowded into the Adelson Educational Campus in Summerlin witnessed repeated clashes between local Republican party officials and would-be caucus-goers who resented being required to affirm their religious beliefs before being allowed to participate. The disputes overshadowed the intent of the caucus to choose a Republican nominee for president, especially since former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had already been declared the winner in Nevada before the evening event started.

Nevada: In Las Vegas, Making Sure the Caucuses Accommodate | NYTimes.com

When Nevada held its first Republican caucuses in 2008, Philip A. Kantor walked to the library next door to his synagogue. He took in the spectacle, watching others ballot for their chosen candidate. But he could not take part — as an Orthodox Jew, he was forbidden from writing on the Sabbath. Frustrated, he promised himself to prevent a similar setup in the next election. But by the time state party officials announced the date of this year’s caucuses, Mr. Kantor realized that he would be barred again, unless they made special provisions. Mr. Kantor placed several calls to friends and colleagues he knew were influential in G.O.P. circles, including to his longtime friend Sheldon Adelson, a Jewish philanthropist and Republican donor. Within weeks, Mr. Kantor had a meeting with the Clark County party chairman. After considerable back and forth, Mr. Kantor was assured that he and other Orthodox Jews would be welcome during a special caucus Saturday night, hours after others would end.