Nevada plays host to both the and Democratic early caucuses this year

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

Nevada holds the caucus to send delegates, or people from the state representing a candidate, to the respective party’s national conventions. The most supported candidate at the convention becomes that party’s presidential candidate. A presidential caucus groups registered voters of the same party by their geographic precinct.

The first step’s the same but the parties split soon after:

Step 1: Getting to the caucus

Call or visit the Web site for the Washoe County headquarters for the party you want to caucus for. Both caucuses are Jan. 19. Republicans start at 9 a.m. and Democrats start at 11 a.m.
Democratic process
Step 2: Sign in

You must be a registered Democrat to sign in. You will then check a box for a candidate you lean toward, or check uncommitted.
Step 3: Electing a chair

The caucus members elect a permanent chair to lead the caucus.
Step 4: Delegates

The chair announces the number of delegates, or people who go to the county convention representing their candidate. The number of delegates is determined before the caucus and is based on the number of registered Democrats in the county.
Step 5: Viability

The chair does a head count of the participants and tries to match the number with the number of caucus members signed in. The number of people who attend the caucus help determine the viability number, or the number of caucus members a presidential candidate needs for at least one delegate.

If the precinct has one delegate, then the candidate must be elected by the whole precinct.

If the precinct has two delegates, viable candidate groups must have 25 percent of the attendees.

If the precinct has three delegates, viable groups must have 20 percent of the attendees.

If the precinct has four or more delegates, viable groups must have 15 percent of the attendees.
Step 6: Alignment

The chair announces the number of participants needed for a candidate or group to be viable.

The chair gives the participants 15 minutes to get into groups based on noncommitment or presidential candidate.

The chair announces which groups have enough members and which do not.
Step 7: Realignment

Groups with not enough members are given time to try to recruit more members to make the group viable. Already viable groups are allowed to try to convince members of nonviable groups to join their viable group.
Step 8: Giving Out Delegates

After the groups have settled and nonviable groups have disbanded, the chair allots delegates to each remaining group based on size.

The group then elects a delegate for the county convention.
Step 9: Results

The chair calls the state party and reports the caucus results. The caucus repeats on county and state levels before delegates are sent the Democratic National Convention.

http://nevadasagebrush.com/blog/2007/10/30/
nevada-plays-host-to-both-the-and-democratic-early-caucuses-this-year/