Texas Primaries

Rowan voted!
Originally uploaded by Cheryl Rollman.

So the whole family got their vote on last week. Ms. A took G-man and I took Lil Miss Austin to the polling spot and cast our ballots.

The Texas Primary, for those that don't know, is a complex animal; more so than most states. Texas has a hybrid caucus/primary which up until now hasn't really mattered because by this point there's usually a front runner and the process has gone largely unnoticed.

Here it is in nutshell.

* Texas has a two step process that is open to all registered voters.

* When you cast your vote in the Texas primary, in essence it’s only 75% of a full vote.

* 126 of Texas’ 168 votes will be allocated to candidates based on the ballots cast.

* 15 minutes after the polls close (7:00 p.m.) those who voted must return to their precinct.

* This “precinct convention” is how Texas will decide how to divide the remaining 42 delegates.

* The rules were originally put in place to insure that the Democratic hierarchy would have more say.

(source)

There's also a bit about the weighted precincts. If turn out in a previous election was improved, the weight of the delegates is more than in one that had a lower turn out. So, you could win precinct but its value may not be as high as another. Technically a candidate could win a majority of the precincts but not the overall delegate count.

Weird, n'est ce pas?

The other cool thing is, after voting in the primary, you're allowed to vote in the caucus as well. I've never done that so it may be interesting. I believe all you have to do is show up and sign your name and you're done.

I won't go into our choices, though LMA wanted to vote for "the lady." I think it's important they go with us to vote. Especially since the electronic voting makes it seem like a little game.

That's all for now. Carry on.