The Texas Two Step
Having participated in both the primary and the caucus here in Texas, I can now say officially and categorically that I'm still confused as heck. Here's my understanding of the Texas process for selecting its Democratic delegates, based on my experience.
Step One: The Primary
Two thirds of Texas's delegates are determined by this process.
During the early voting period, individuals can go to any early voting location in their area and vote for the candidates they wish to see on the ballot in November. (This includes local races, as well as state and national candidates.) You go to the polling place and tell the helpful volunteers whether you wish to vote in the Democratic or Republican primary. If you say Democratic, they ask if you wish to participate in the caucus. If you say yes, they give you a voting receipt with a big "Democrat" stamped on it, and they direct you toward the Democrat voting booths. You then proceed to the voting booth (electronic at my precinct) and cast your ballot. The volunteers then urge you to look at the list to make sure you know where your precinct polling place is so you can return for the caucus.
On Primary day, if you did not vote early you must go to your precinct's polling place to vote between 7 and 7. Signs point you toward the Democrat or Republican primary. Again, you get your receipt and are encouraged to return after 7PM for the "convention" (what we all call the "caucus.")
Step Two: The Convention (a.k.a., Caucus)
The other third of the delegates are assigned through the convention process
.
After the polls close, everyone committed/interested enough to do so returns to their precinct's polling place at or around 7:15. Since almost no one in attendance has ever participated in this process, you all mill around like lost cows until someone (most likely a precinct captain who has received a couple of hours of training) tells you where to go.
My polling place was the Community Activities Center where Sophia takes ballet and tap on Tuesdays. So I took her to class, then we walked to McDonalds for some food and returned for the caucus. Jason and Katarina met us there. The CAC was actually the convention site for several precincts. So when we arrived, someone announced that our precinct convention would be in the game room. Another precinct in the hallway, and another somewhere else (I didn't hear). We got the sweet end of that deal. Sophia played foosball most of the time with a classmate and another girl while Katarina and another two toddlers looked on. And we got to visit with Sophia's classmate's parents.
Back to the process. So once the precinct convention goers find the right place, they stand around for awhile while the precinct captains get their packets and find their way to the room (or space). Eventually, they declare they are ready to start verifying people. - I forgot to mention that you can't vote in the convention unless you vote in the primary first. - Everyone lines up and shows their receipts or stamped voter registration cards and ID to the captains. Once you're verified, you fill out your name and contact information on the roster, along with which candidate you're voting for. This is not a secret ballot. Everyone can see who everyone else wrote down. You then step aside while everyone else signs in.
After everyone has signed in, the captains count up the votes. The votes will determine how many precinct delegates each candidate will get. (Each precinct has a certain number of delegates they will send to the county convention.) For example, our precinct has 18 delegates. We had 109 people in our convention. Based on the number of votes, we determined that we would send 10 Obama delegates and 8 Clinton delegates to the county convention. I assume somehow this number gets communicated to The Powers That Be so they can count toward the 1/3 of state delegates.
You might think this was the end of the process. But no. We actually do have a county convention at the end of March, wherein the county delegates will be elected. Those delegates will go to the state convention in June. So, the precinct convention has to elect its delegates. This is done by splitting the room up into Obama people and Clinton people. As they proceed to their sides of the room, everyone mutters clever comments about how "the truth comes out" and "now we know where everyone stands," etc. Each group then goes about selecting its delegates. In my group, we self-selected. Those of us who wanted to be one of the 10 delegates raised our hands. At first we were a couple short, then a couple heavy. But eventually we had 10 (of which I'm totally one). The Hillary group had more people who really wanted to go than they did delegates, so their people each gave little speeches. The delegates signed a list and agreed to return on March 29 to a high school in Ft. Worth. - I'll post about that experience as well. Can't wait!
Step One: The Primary
Two thirds of Texas's delegates are determined by this process.
During the early voting period, individuals can go to any early voting location in their area and vote for the candidates they wish to see on the ballot in November. (This includes local races, as well as state and national candidates.) You go to the polling place and tell the helpful volunteers whether you wish to vote in the Democratic or Republican primary. If you say Democratic, they ask if you wish to participate in the caucus. If you say yes, they give you a voting receipt with a big "Democrat" stamped on it, and they direct you toward the Democrat voting booths. You then proceed to the voting booth (electronic at my precinct) and cast your ballot. The volunteers then urge you to look at the list to make sure you know where your precinct polling place is so you can return for the caucus.
On Primary day, if you did not vote early you must go to your precinct's polling place to vote between 7 and 7. Signs point you toward the Democrat or Republican primary. Again, you get your receipt and are encouraged to return after 7PM for the "convention" (what we all call the "caucus.")
Step Two: The Convention (a.k.a., Caucus)
The other third of the delegates are assigned through the convention process
.
After the polls close, everyone committed/interested enough to do so returns to their precinct's polling place at or around 7:15. Since almost no one in attendance has ever participated in this process, you all mill around like lost cows until someone (most likely a precinct captain who has received a couple of hours of training) tells you where to go.
My polling place was the Community Activities Center where Sophia takes ballet and tap on Tuesdays. So I took her to class, then we walked to McDonalds for some food and returned for the caucus. Jason and Katarina met us there. The CAC was actually the convention site for several precincts. So when we arrived, someone announced that our precinct convention would be in the game room. Another precinct in the hallway, and another somewhere else (I didn't hear). We got the sweet end of that deal. Sophia played foosball most of the time with a classmate and another girl while Katarina and another two toddlers looked on. And we got to visit with Sophia's classmate's parents.
Back to the process. So once the precinct convention goers find the right place, they stand around for awhile while the precinct captains get their packets and find their way to the room (or space). Eventually, they declare they are ready to start verifying people. - I forgot to mention that you can't vote in the convention unless you vote in the primary first. - Everyone lines up and shows their receipts or stamped voter registration cards and ID to the captains. Once you're verified, you fill out your name and contact information on the roster, along with which candidate you're voting for. This is not a secret ballot. Everyone can see who everyone else wrote down. You then step aside while everyone else signs in.
After everyone has signed in, the captains count up the votes. The votes will determine how many precinct delegates each candidate will get. (Each precinct has a certain number of delegates they will send to the county convention.) For example, our precinct has 18 delegates. We had 109 people in our convention. Based on the number of votes, we determined that we would send 10 Obama delegates and 8 Clinton delegates to the county convention. I assume somehow this number gets communicated to The Powers That Be so they can count toward the 1/3 of state delegates.
You might think this was the end of the process. But no. We actually do have a county convention at the end of March, wherein the county delegates will be elected. Those delegates will go to the state convention in June. So, the precinct convention has to elect its delegates. This is done by splitting the room up into Obama people and Clinton people. As they proceed to their sides of the room, everyone mutters clever comments about how "the truth comes out" and "now we know where everyone stands," etc. Each group then goes about selecting its delegates. In my group, we self-selected. Those of us who wanted to be one of the 10 delegates raised our hands. At first we were a couple short, then a couple heavy. But eventually we had 10 (of which I'm totally one). The Hillary group had more people who really wanted to go than they did delegates, so their people each gave little speeches. The delegates signed a list and agreed to return on March 29 to a high school in Ft. Worth. - I'll post about that experience as well. Can't wait!