A few days ago, we explained the Republican caucus system, HERE. Today, we look at the Democratic Party's caucuses coming up April 9th. Here are some frequently asked questions courtesy of the Wyoming Democratic Party website...

What is a county caucus?

This is the first step in Wyoming's nominating process. The county caucus is your chance to help select Wyoming's Democratic Presidential nominee. For people used to casting their vote quietly in a polling place or at home via absentee ballot, a caucus is a very different experience.  In caucuses, people group together with other supporters of their candidates and speak on behalf of their candidates in the hope of both winning over undecided caucus goers as well as supporters of other candidates. At the end of the caucus,  candidates are awarded delegates to the State Convention in proportion to the number of  supporters. Delegates will be elected to attend the State Convention and folks can sign up to run as a delegate to the National Convention. The county caucus is also your opportunity to voice ideas for planks to your county platform, that may even get adopted to the State platform. Many counties also draw up resolutions to bring to state convention for Democrats across the state to vote on.

 Who can attend and participate in the county caucuses?

Any voter registered as a Democrat can participate in the caucuses taking place in the county they live in. Voters must be 18 by the time of the next election, be a resident of Wyoming and be registered as a Democrat 15 days prior to the convention- March 25th.

The deadline to register to vote as a Democrat in order to participate in the county caucuses is March 25, 2016... but how do I register to vote?

You can register to vote at your county clerk's office. You can register to vote at any point in time but in order to participate in your county caucus you must ensure that you are registered as a Democrat prior to March 25th.

What is a delegate?

A delegate at the county level is the lucky individual chosen to represent their county to the state convention. This person represents the interests and perspective of their part of the state.

A delegate at the state level is the lucky individual chosen to represent their state to the national convention. The number of delegates at the county and state level are limited to be proportional based on the number of Democrats and the population of the area.

How many delegates does Wyoming send to the Democratic National Convention?

Wyoming will be sending 18 delegates and 2 alternates. 8 are District-Level delegates, 4 are unpledged party Leaders and elected officials, 2 are PLEOs, 3 are At-Large delegates with 2 alternates.

How many delegates does my county send to the State Convention?

Each county is allotted a delegate based on the population of that county and on the proportion of votes that went to Democratic federal candidates in the last presidential election. Each county is guaranteed at least one population based delegate and one vote-share based delegate. Here is a breakdown of each county's number of delegates to the Democratic State Convention.

County
Number of Delegates
Albany
33
Big Horn
4
Campbell
18
Carbon
7
Converse
5
Crook
2
Fremont
20
Goshen
5
Hot Springs
2
Johnson
2
Laramie
51
Lincoln
6
Natrona
38
Niobrara
2
Park
13
Platte
3
Sheridan
14
Sublette
4
Sweetwater
22
Teton
15
Uinta
9
Washakie
3
Weston
2

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