Next time, Nevada should try a primary

To the editor:

Nevada needs to drop the caucus method of candidate selection in favor of a winner-take-all presidential primary.

Forget the issue that Sen. Barack Obama claims victory in the delegate count despite Sen. Hillary Clinton’s win in the popular vote. We played that game in 2000. The issue is what happened to all those people wanting to take part in the process Saturday, but who worked in off-Strip properties or couldn’t take off work — police, firefighters, medical professionals, sales clerks, etc. Politicians talk about inclusion, but the caucus was a glaring example that talk is exactly what it was.

There was a small window in which to participate and a number of hours needed to have your voice heard. I was involved in the 1988 caucus because I had the day off. It was easy and simple, but we have changed. We are not the small community we once were.

A winner-take-all primary allows for a 12-hour voting period, early voting and absentee voting. If Nevada, especially Las Vegas, prides itself on being a player on the national stage, then it’s time to operate like a national player. A caucus no longer works for a state with a burgeoning population.

Let everyone be heard.

charles mcCarty

LAS VEGAS

Not democratic

To the editor:

I feel like moving back to the state where I used to live just so my vote will be counted. I now know what it feels like to be disenfranchised and disillusioned.

If Nevada has another presidential caucus, I won’t participate. My precinct location (the Rainbow Library) was stacked in favor of Hillary Clinton before anybody arrived. Many of the precinct workers wore Hillary T-shirts. Sen. Clinton’s sign was on a wall by itself. John Edwards, Sen. Joe Biden and Rep. Dennis Kucinich shared another wall, though Sen. Biden’s name was completely hidden by a projector screen accidentally lowered during introductions, and the space allotted for Sen. Biden and Rep. Kucinich was occupied by a large grand piano. Sen. Barack Obama, “uncommitted” and “observers” shared a third wall. There wasn’t a fourth wall, as the other half of the room was being used by another precinct.

All the chairs in the room were placed under Sen. Clinton’s sign. If you supported anybody else, you could stand or sit on the floor. Very democratic.

Why, in this age of instant communication, are we still attached to archaic methods such as the caucus and the Electoral College? Why can’t we vote by mail? Enclose a coupon for the election in the utility bill? Or vote by e-mail? Better still, let’s just text message our vote: 1111 for Clinton. 5555 for Mitt Romney, 911 for Rudy Giuliani, etc.

Andrew Steiner

LAS VEGAS

Not good

To the editor:

I just returned from the Nevada caucus and felt the need to share my thoughts on the process. When I moved here from New York, I registered in a political party with the idea that I wanted to vote in a primary, not a caucus. Because my only choice as a Nevada resident was to caucus, that is what I did.

How they got any accurate vote is anyone’s guess. After putting us in groups based on our choice of political candidate and precinct, they counted heads. After awhile they allowed us to cast a paper ballot. Those people who were not registered to vote with the political party did not have an official ballot. These people used a single slip of paper without their name or precinct on it. Were they counted?

Parking was an issue. Many people had to walk a great distance from the actual building holding the caucus. Fortunately for me, I found a handicapped spot for my car. Had this not been available I would have gone home without voting. There is no way I could have walked the distance, or up the hill that many individuals had to walk.

Throughout the process, my anger at having my friends and neighbors know how I was voting kept irritating me. Whom you vote for is a private matter. I hope Nevada reconsiders and brings back a primary.

Primaries allow anyone who wishes to vote, usually over a 12-hour period. Many people were excluded because they were working, had other obligations during that time frame or had religious reasons.

All in all, Saturday’s presidential caucus was not a good experience for me.

Judith Corman

HENDERSON