Registered Idaho Republican voters will gather at caucus sites across the state Saturday to help pick the GOP nominee for president.
The presidential caucus is new this year because the Idaho Legislature seemingly unintentionally eliminated the presidential primary election last year and then did not restore it by passing a trailer bill or calling a special session.
That means elections will be different this year for Idahoans, who will vote in both a party presidential nominating caucus and a separate statewide party primary election.
The Republican Presidential Caucus is Saturday at noon Mountain time, 11 a.m. Pacific time. The Idaho primary election for state legislators, county sheriffs, county prosecutors, county commissioners and other local taxing district candidates and measures are May 21. The Democratic Presidential Caucus is May 23. Voters need to be present at their caucus site to participate; there is no option for absentee voting in the Republican Presidential Caucus.
The caucus is run entirely by the Republican Party – from setting up the rules, to selecting the caucus sites, to verifying voter eligibility, to counting the ballots by hand and announcing results.
What to know about where to go on the day of the caucus
Across the state, there are 210 local caucus sites, and voters must attend the local caucus site assigned to them based on their precinct. That local caucus site is probably going to be different than the local polling place Idaho voters are used to because the caucus is run by the party, not the state and county elections offices.
“Primary election poll locations will differ in most cases from the caucus locations of both the Idaho GOP and Idaho Democrat presidential caucuses,” Canyon County Clerk Rick Hogaboam said in a written statement Thursday. “Don’t assume that your normal poll location is the same location for the caucuses, nor assume that your caucus location will be the same poll location for the May 21 primary election.”
Idaho Republican Party officials told the Idaho Capital Sun they mailed hundreds of thousands of postcards to registered Republicans earlier this month that identifies each voter’s local caucus site.
If voters did not receive a postcard or lost theirs, they can follow a two-step process to find their caucus site.
First, voters should visit the new VoteIdaho.gov website, search for their voter record and find their precinct number. It may also be helpful to make note of the legislative district, too. Second, visit the website www.IdahoRepublicancaucus.com. Click on the “find your caucus” header and then click the county you live in. Scroll down through the list of caucus sites to find the correct caucus site based on your precinct. Some counties caucus sites may also list the legislative district number and precinct number.
Who will be on the GOP ballot
In order to participate in Saturday’s Republican Presidential Caucus, voters must have registered and affiliated with the Republican Partyby the party’s Dec. 31 deadline.
In order to prove their identity at the polls, voters will need to produce either an Idaho driver’s license or state ID card, a U.S. passport or federal photo ID, a trivial ID card or a concealed weapons license.
Once voters enter their caucus site and register, they will be given a paper ballot and participate in one round of voting, Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon told the Sun in February.
There are six candidates on the ballot to choose from:
Donald J. Trump
Nikki Haley
Ron DeSantis
Vivek Ramaswamy
Chris Christie
Ryan L. Binkley
Although all of the candidates besides Trump and Haley have dropped out of the race, all six candidates still appear on the ballots in Idaho because they paid their $50,000 filing fee, Moon said.
Up for grabs are 32 delegates in Idaho, which candidates hope to win as they seek their party’s nomination for president. If one candidate wins a simple majority of votes in the caucus, they will win all 32 delegates. If not, delegates will be split proportionally among all candidates who receive at least 15% of the vote.
News reporters and independent observers who are not registered Republican voters will not be allowed inside the caucus sites or Idaho GOP headquarters to observe the process or observe the vote, Moon said in February.
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