Politics On The Strip

I had been wondering about how those working on the Strip during next week's Nevada caucus would be able to vote. Apparently the Nevada State Democratic Party set up at-large precincts based on employment (in other words, if you work at the Rio, you can vote at the Rio's on-site precinct). Why you would create caucuses in Nevada when the casinos operate 24-7 and aren't likely to let their employees take an hour off (they're apparently being very resistant about it) is an open question. But the uniqueness of the on-site at-large precincts is election lawsuit bait, and the Clinton campaign has proven themselves up to the challenge.

Nevada’s state teachers union and six Las Vegas area residents filed a lawsuit late Friday that could make it harder for many members of the state’s huge hotel workers union to vote in the hotly contested Jan. 19 Democratic caucus in Nevada.

The 13-page lawsuit in federal district court here comes two days after the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union Local 226 in Nevada endorsed Senator Barack Obama, a blow to Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Obama addressed the Culinary Union at their hall earlier Friday.

The lawsuit argues that the Nevada Democratic Party’s decision, decided late last year, to create at-large precincts inside nine Las Vegas resorts on caucus day violates the state’s election laws and creates a system in which voters at the at-large precincts can elect more delegates than voters at other precincts. The lawsuit employs a complex mathematical formula to show that voters at the other 1,754 precincts would have less influence with their votes.

I guess the biggest takeaway here is that caucuses are undemocratic. But given that they're the system we have in place in Nevada, this lawsuit is a bunch of crap. The Clinton campaign wasn't concerned about the at-large precincts until they lost the Culinary Workers endorsement. It's wrong of them to base their victory strategy in Nevada on disenfranchisement.

Overall, I think things are setting up for the DNC to have major egg on their face. Nevada was one of the four states given this early date for their election, and there appears to be a lot of confusion over who will vote, so much so that national pollsters are begging off of polling the state. If this lawsuit calls into question the eventual outcome, which it certainly would, since it impacts as much as 10% of the total delegates distributed in the caucuses, that will look miserable.

Can we change this system, please?