Gold letter: Democrat Caucus

In 2011 the Idaho Republican Party pushed legislation to successfully hold primaries open only to registered voters of our state’s political parties. In other words if you aren’t affiliated with a political party, you don’t get to vote in this important election to select a presidential nominee. No surprises for our Republican dominated state. However, approximately 50 percent of registered voters in Idaho are non-affiliated with a political party. Fifty percent.

The Democratic Party in Idaho did not support the closed primary and the only way to open their party’s primary to the 50 percent that would otherwise be left out, was to move from the traditional way of voting to the Caucus process. As an unaffiliated voter (formerly Republican), I am grateful to the Democratic Party for this move to include all voters. At first the process was confusing, but the Democrats were happy to break it down for me: Voters need to attend the Caucus to be held March 22 at 7 p.m. (get there at least 60 to 90 minutes early), the voting process takes approximately one hour and you can bring the kids if you don’t have a sitter.

So don’t be left out on this important vote, make the effort and attend the Democratic Caucus.

This story was originally published March 13, 2016 at 12:10 AM with the headline "Gold letter: Democrat Caucus."