26 Days ‘Til Caucus

Update, 2:41 PM: Information on Douglas County Republican caucuses is included in the comment section. Thanks, Steve! … Denver County, too, compliments of el presidente.

The Denver Post has a full-length story this morning on the building interest & excitement surrounding Colorado’s caucus process this year. As the story notes, it overwhelmingly has to do with a highly competitive primary in a presidential election year:

Republican Mort Marks, 83, plans to hold a caucus at his house. He said he has received calls from a lot of people he hasn’t heard from before, and he has noticed larger turnout at recent Republican events.

“There is a hell of a lot more interest than I’ve seen in many, many years,” said Marks, who hasn’t decided which GOP candidate he will support. “There is a feeling that people are looking for leadership, but people are also split on the candidates.”

GOP and Democratic Party officials say they are expecting much higher participation at the caucuses than they have had in years. State GOP head Dick Wadhams said the intensity of the race was certain to bring out new attendees.

Republicans in the state of Colorado are seeking to be patient with their party as we await the caucus information to move beyond “coming soon.” If you’re in Jefferson County – my neck of the woods – there is a complete list of caucus locations sorted by precinct number.

What’s your precinct number, you say? If you still have your registered voter ID card, it will be on there. But if you don’t want to go around digging to find the card, you can look up your voter registration on the Colorado Secretary of State’s website. Your last name, legal first name (for me, Benjamin rather than Ben), ZIP code, and Date of Birth (month, date, and year) will retrieve your record, including your precinct number. Cross-reference the precinct number with the list of locations, and you’re set.

If you’re a Democrat, pretty much all you need is right here. If you’re a Republican from another county, you can google your county party or contact the state GOP directly.

Remember: you have to be already registered with the Republican or Democratic party to participate in their respective caucuses on Tuesday, February 5. Democrats caucus with Democrats, and Republicans caucus with Republicans. Independents get the night off. At least for Jeffco Republicans, the event will start at 7 PM.

My guess is that I’ll see more people at my precinct than the 3 of us who showed up back in 2006. And most will just want to cast a vote for their presidential preference in the non-binding straw poll and move on. But it’s more active than not showing up at all and missing out entirely on the grassroots political process.