LAS VEGAS — The Nevada caucuses are off to a shaky start as the state Democratic Party says it’s short on volunteers to help run the third nominating contest of the 2020 cycle.
Representatives from multiple campaigns told the Washington Examiner that a number of Silver State caucus sites do not have enough volunteers, and local party officials are scrambling to find replacements. Other reports from the state show that some caucus sites don’t have registrations or early ballots yet.
“Nevada Democratic Party officials are telling us and other campaigns that there’s a deficit of volunteers across the state, and so they are asking representatives of campaigns to act as precinct chairs — which only underscores the poor preparations for these caucuses,” said an official from one Democratic campaign.
The early news out of a number of caucus sites is reminiscent of the disastrous Iowa caucuses, which suffered from a massive technological failure that delayed results for weeks after the contest ended. It took nearly a week for the Iowa Democratic Party to finalize results, which found a near-tie between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Both campaigns are still disputing the results.
The Nevada Democratic Party quickly scrapped plans to use the same vote-reporting app as the one in Iowa. Instead, the party will depend on traditional reporting methods like phones.
Caucus volunteers were asked to sign a lengthy nondisclosure agreement on Friday, which prohibited them from saying anything that may “impair or otherwise adversely affect the goodwill or reputation,” according to a Washington Post report.
