VICTOR JOECKS: Why Nevada’s primary ballot doesn’t list Trump

Confusing your own supporters isn’t a great idea. Yet by keeping Donald Trump off Nevada’s presidential primary ballot, the Nevada Republican Party has done just that.

If you’re a Nevada Republican, you likely recently received a presidential primary ballot in the mail. You probably noticed something odd about the list of candidates. It doesn’t include Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

A friend texted me Tuesday asking about it and referenced the “twilight zone.” That’s an understandable reaction. When you receive a ballot in the mail, you expect to be able to vote for the top candidates, not dropouts such as Sen. Tim Scott and Mike Pence.

Here’s why this happened.

To begin, this is not — I repeat, not — the fault of election officials. The government didn’t conspire to keep Trump off this ballot. The Nevada Republican Party, working on Trump’s behalf, did that.

The most important thing to understand is that delegates, not total votes, are what matter in the presidential nominating contest. In most states, candidates earn delegates based on how many votes they receive in a primary. But delegate allocation rules vary by state. Nevada Republicans have traditionally used a caucus to award delegates.

In 2021, Nevada’s legislative Democrats created a presidential primary to be held the first Tuesday in February. They wanted to skip ahead of the Iowa caucus and hold the first contest in the nation. Remember, in 2020, Iowa Democrats bungled their caucus and had major reporting delays. The bill, however, applied to both political parties. Democrats also rammed though universal mail ballots that session.

The Nevada Republican Party, however, didn’t want to award delegates based on a primary. It decided to stick with its traditional caucus, which will be Feb. 8. Further, any candidate who participated in the state-run primary wouldn’t be eligible to receive delegates. Trump and DeSantis sought to compete for delegates, so they didn’t sign up for the state-run primary. That’s why they aren’t listed on the ballot voters received in the mail.

Now, the Nevada Republican Party had the right to do this, but it was foolish. Just by reading this column, you are more attuned to political news than most people. Please accept my congratulations or condolences. But average voters aren’t absorbing all these details. They’re wondering why Trump and DeSantis aren’t listed on the ballot. It appears to be prima facie evidence that Nevada’s elections are rigged. It’s a pretty short step from there to being less likely to vote. That’s not helpful for Trump in a state he narrowly lost twice.

The caucus has its own share of issues. For one, voters need to realize they can legally vote in the primary and participate in the caucus. You aren’t voting twice because they’re two separate contests, albeit for the same office. Yes, I know that seems contradictory.

Another problem is figuring out where to caucus on Feb. 8. The state party’s website is at nevadagop.org/2024-presidential-caucus/. From there, you can find a link to the secretary of state’s website to look up your precinct. Once you have that, you need to click on a Google spreadsheet that contains caucus locations. Use the find function to locate your location. The caucus begins at 5 p.m. You can vote by secret ballot and leave or stay for the longer meeting.

That’s only slightly less convoluted than understanding why Nevada is holding two presidential primary elections.

This mess was so predictable that I predicted it months ago. What a disaster.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Listen to him discuss his columns each Monday at 7 a.m. with Kevin Wall on AM 670 KMZQ Right Talk. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.