Mark Robison

mrobison@rgj.com

Suspicious votes, no accommodations for people with disabilities, excessive times and computer glitches were reported Saturday at Democratic locations in Northern Nevada.

Before getting to reports of issues, the Nevada Secretary of State’s office responded that it "has no authority in the caucus process so any questions regarding them will need to be directed to the major parties."

The Nevada Democratic Party can be reached at 702-737-8683 and http://nvdems.com.

Now on with feedback on Saturday's caucus:

• Strange delegate math: Em reported from Peavine Elementary, “Caucus was a joke! In my precinct there were 5 delegates to be had. Out of 73 voters, 51 supported (Hillary), 21 supported (Bernie), one was undecided. In all fairness, how could H possibly receive four delegates and B one? Who comes up with the mathematical formula that derives an outcome like that? Disgusting experience!”

• Wrong location: Megan McDonald at Westergard Elementary wrote, “People were told to go to the wrong location and were refused.”

• Everybody taking confusion, crowd in stride: Jean Francis at Peavine Elementary wrote, “The line was long and very slow. Also, the caucus workers had to move people around a bit to get each precinct into a space of its own. The turnout seemed to be a lot bigger than they expected. However, as far as I know, they did not run out of the printed caucus cards. Everyone, that I saw, was taking the confusion and delays in stride.

• Impatient person lost delegate for Clinton: Barrie at Libby Booth Elementary wrote, “Check-in was stressful. We needed a bigger venue. While most people were prepared for chaos, some people were angry and impatient and didn't seem to understand that the venue was being run by volunteers who were doing their best. I don't know if this was a problem, but we did have a conflict which resulted in getting the legal team on the phone to resolve it. Out of 177 caucus attendees for precinct 3009, and a total of 14 delegates from the precinct, our viability number was 27, meaning we needed a minimum of 27 in a group in order for that candidate to receive 1 delegate. After the first alignment. Hillary had 25, there were 2 undecided and Bernie had 151. There was some confusion as to whether Hillary's group, being nonviable, was allowed to send a recruiter to the undecided group. While technically I believe that a nonviable group is not allowed to send a representative to recruit more supporters, representatives from both Hillary's and Bernie's groups were allowed to do a 1 minute pitch to the undecided group, and a representative from Bernie's group was allowed to give a 1 minute speech to both Hillary's group and the undecideds in an attempt to affect the outcome of the second alignment. Now if the 2 undecideds had moved to Hillary, it would have been 1 delegate for Hillary and 13 for Bernie, and while both undecideds did move to Hillary, one woman in the Hillary group up and left out of sheer frustration leaving only 26 in the group after the second alignment. This resulted in Hillary being totally nonviable and Bernie being awarded all 14 delegates. This was swayed by one impatient person proving that your vote does count.

• People who left were improperly counted: Lisa Lee at Hillside Elementary in Storey County wrote, “I do want to share what happened at the caucus today. After we got started and the doors locked, the meeting was called to order, the permanent chair voted in, and we began the count. It came as a shock to find that their count had five additional people who were not present. Apparently, one person had to go to work but conveniently left her card with the Hillary precinct captain. Another four allegedly left after registration. Funny, since I never saw anyone leave. They tried to count them despite the rules which said they have to give them to the PERMANENT CHAIR (which we didn't have until after the doors locked) and after the count.”

• People with disabilities not allowed to exercise rights: Hope Thompson at Melton Elementary wrote, “My husband and I both have health issues. I had called the Democratic headquarters and asked how we should proceed because neither of us can be with large numbers of people. I have a compromised immune system and my husband is a Vietnam veteran with severe PTSD who suffers a lot of anxiety in big crowds. I was told to preregister which we both did. Then we were instructed to turn in our ‘votes’ and we could leave. When we got there the preregistration was not working which necessitated standing in a long line of people, which could put my health at risk. My husband had gone earlier and had gotten through the chaos before me and was able to get me the voting card. I could see he was already getting agitated from the crowd. We both had filled them out and turned them in. But, no one of any authority was present to run things. It was all volunteers. Finally someone of authority was found. We explained our situation and he demanded that we had to stay for at least 30 minutes for our cards to be counted. Unfortunately my husband's low frustration from his PTSD kicked in and he was angry. This guy said he was authorized to call the authorities. I then suggested that the ADA might somehow accommodate us. He said that only covers entrance access, which I believe is untrue. Anyway, by then it was noon and everyone went in and locked the doors. My husband had left to avoid a confrontation. Literally, I got in my car and cried. Here my husband served his country and once again as a Vietnam vet was ****** by his country. We are both good citizens trying to do our duty to this country. I believe we were prevented from exercising our rights. I tried to locate who to call or write to about this, without success. This is a brief synopsis of our experience. If you can provide me with direction as to who to complain to I would appreciate it.”

Note: The Reno Gazette-Journal has reached out to both parties to find out what recourse people have regarding caucus problems. If and when they respond, we will update this story. With a primary system, the state would be in charge and accessible for complaints — taxpayers foot the bill for primaries. But with caucuses, the political parties pay for and are responsible for them.

• Disorganized and unprofessional: Colin Loretz at Hunter Lake Elementary wrote:

“1) Disorganized but even more so from the unexpected turnout. I know its volunteer led but for people taking time out of their day to participate, it caused some short tempers in our precinct and made the process confusing for many – it was very unprofessional and embarrassing. I know that they had trainings as I was invited to them but it seemed like that was not the case for some of our precinct captains. One example was in establishing the original count, no one had a good sense of how they should go about it, despite us all having just checked in. This could easily be solved with technology rather than counting hands, which failed a few times before we were able to get a count. The count ended up being incorrect but did not change the viability numbers.

“2) Unprofessional - this isn't so much a problem as it was a surprise. Precinct captains and the individuals who started our caucus were all wearing either Bernie or Hillary shirts. I would think the folks organizing this would not be able to wear these so I was surprised by that. It was fine until they began the caucus process and proceeded to lobby for their candidate (Hillary) while they had the attention of the room. This causes another precinct captain from Bernie's side to jump in with rebuttal and they had to regain the room's composure.

“Overall I enjoy the social aspect of the caucus process but they should be run a little bit smoother or we should have a primary (which I know is a whole different issue). Some messiness is to be expected as we're dealing with people but more volunteer training and professionalism would go a long way."

• Long check-in process: Philip Moore at Double Diamond Elementary said it took 90 minutes to 2 hours to register everyone, even in the “express” check-in line.

• Left before casting vote because process so long: Kathy Johnson at Sparks Middle School wrote, “Confusion, short on planning, volunteers not properly taught on what to do. There were a couple who knew the what's ,where's and how's but they couldn't be everywhere. Our precinct leader hadn't shown and I had been there nearly 4 hours. Sadly, I had to leave before casting vote.”

• Clinton voters allowed to break rules: Jorge Pintor at Swope Middle School said, “Preregistrations didn't go through the system and one registered man was denied his vote for Bernie Sanders because he missed the head count by 5 minutes, where Hillary voters were given the chance to vote and register after. They read the law to us and they allowed Hillary voters to break it!”

• Clinton irregularity: Doug Banghart wrote, “On Saturday, I was caucusing at Galena HS in precinct 8254 (GHS theater). After we began caucusing, a woman walked in late and sat on the Clinton side. When we began to fill out our ballots, this woman rose up and said she didn’t have a ballot. A participant gave her a ballot. She then proceeded to vote for Clinton. How is it that, this woman came in late to a precinct that was split 50-50, didn’t have a ballot in the first place and was given one by another participant? How is it that a person had an extra ballot to give away? Did she just come in off the street? Clinton won the precinct by ONE vote getting 4 out of 7 delegates. This smells fishy. Everyone in the room witnessed this woman's actions.”

• Disorganized; signs needed: Cherie Reisinger at Wooster High wrote, “The most disorganized experience I have ever encountered. Nobody knew what line to stand in. Volunteers were giving wrong directions to people. No signs to direct people. Handicap and elderly were not given special lines. Line took about 2 hours for people to get into their rooms. It all could have been avoided with more voter look up stations and better signs.

• ‘This will be my last caucus’: Pat Purkey-Entwistle at Drake Elementary gave a list of observations about the Democratic caucus Saturday.

“1. Chaos. Caucus workers were not trained enough or had not done their homework by reading the caucus manual before.

“2. Workers were not prepared for the number of people who showed up.

“3. Computers crashed.

“4. Letters from the super-delegates were not passed out (my group received only one letter, that from Sen. Reid).

“5. Simple organizational skills were not being used, i.e. it took THREE counts to get the correct number of voters present for our precinct — we finally had to line up and count off.

“6. At 12:00 noon, the line for non-pre-registered caucusers was still out to McCarran Blvd. We could not start the caucus until 1:00 pm, and the last precinct was not done until 3:00 pm.

“7. There was confusion as to whether the number of delegates was to be determined by the total number of registered voters in the precinct or by the number of registered voters who showed up to caucus. In discussions with voters from other caucus sites, I found out that one precinct that had only 21 total voters present at the caucus got SIX delegates based on the total number of voters in their precinct whether or not they were present, while my own precinct group of over 80 people present got only EIGHT delegates because the number of delegates was based only on the number of voters present at the caucus. The math was waaay out of line.

“8. People started to leave before delegates and alternates were chosen.

“9. Voting location rules state that there are to be no candidate signs within a certain distance of the polling place, yet there were Bernie and Hillary signs everywhere and caucus workers were wearing candidate t-shirts.

“10. This was my second caucus. It will be my last. In a primary election, you go in, cast your vote and leave — 10 minutes max. In a primary, your vote is private vs. the public exposure to your neighbors in a caucus. The time required for a caucus will absolutely reduce the numbers of participating voters. I fervently hope that a proposal to return to a primary vote will be placed on the Nevada ballot for 2016.”

• "Confidential voters"turned away: Michael and Diana Jones were turned away from participating this morning in the caucus in Gardnerville despite being registered Democratic voters in Douglas County.

This is because they registered as “confidential voters,” meaning their names are not available as a public record to the Democratic Party, which runs the caucuses.

Michael Jones said he talked to multiple volunteers and Democratic Party staff who were unfamiliar with the issue until he was finally turned away.

“I was told I had to reregister (not confidential),” he said. “The whole point is not to put up with the 30, 40, 50 robocalls and three pounds of campaign literature in the mailbox.”

He said his wife spoke with someone in line who was a confidential voter but planned to reregister so he could participate.

Antoinette Jacobs discovered the problem with being a confidential voter at Shaw Middle School in Reno. She ended up reregistering so she could participate.

“We are now inconvenienced by this registration fiasco since we have to go down to the county clerk’s office and redo it to add the confidential aspect so we can keep our information private,” she texted.

Jones is not willing to give up the confidentiality. “We’ve gotten virtually no robocalls and very little campaign literature,” he said.

He pointed out that Democrats can do same-day registration and so its party’s confidential voters have an option to participate, but unless confidential Republican voters have already reregistered, they have no way to caucus now because the GOP requires registering about a week before caucus day.

• Wi-Fi overloaded: Craig Ayres-Sevier writes of the scene at Mount Rose Elementary: "The Express Check-In computer crashed leaving only one of two for a while. There was a sign identifying the Express Check-in line but it was placed far to low to be visible above the long lines, so people waited in the wrong line. Volunteers doing their best were sparse and not visible to answer questions in the confusion until one was close to the entrance. There were NO expectations and no provisions for disabled people that I could see. There was no requirement for attendees to turn off their cell phones and, in fact, they were slowing down the registration process for everyone due to overloading the Wi-Fi. It was difficult to hear an otherwise competent caucus leader and a PA was brought in at my precinct meeting almost as an afterthought only after about two hours into the caucus."

• Slow slow slow: Patrick Borden at Virginia Palmer Elementary writes, "The lack of printed voter registration rolls, slow, slow internet, and maps to easily determine which precinct a voter was in, slowed our registration process to a crawl."

Laura Poor also reported slowness at Greenbrae. "This is complete bull. We have lost voters on both side due to it being so slow.

I needed to go to work but luckily my work rocks and they understand."

• Anger in Fernley: Fernley Leader-Courier reporter Robert Perea reports: "Caucus problems and complaints erupted at Fernley Intermediate School Saturday morning. One man became angry in the FIS’ gymnasium, which was noisy with all the activity, when he couldn’t hear the precinct chairperson speaking and began screaming that caucus workers were taking away democracy from a veteran.

"Several people attempted to calm him and one participant touched his shoulder after which he became confrontational.

"The man stormed out but returned. He began capturing video with his cellphone after a precinct captain was able to convince to stay and participate, telling him he had fought for the right to vote and not allow anyone to take that right away from him.

"The day’s problems began when no one had showed up to allow the incoming crowds, which were supposed to be placed into the FIS classrooms. A precinct captain allowed voters into the gym, and eventually all the precincts were grouped together, separated by no more than a few feet."

• Too few computers: Cheyenne Kelly writes about Hug High, "There's a backlog of people waiting to get in. Apparently this site only received 1 out of 13 computers they were to use for the registration process."

• Good experiences: Not everyone is reporting problems. John Saunders writes, "No problem. Two precincts together. Run very well by a Judy ... and a Mohamed. ... Democracy in action." Don Vetter emailed, "Our caucus out at Shaw Middle School went smoothly and there was lively, yet civil discussions, and the undecideds got to ask questions and we got out there by 1. It was 3-3 on delegates, by the way."

• Complaint with Democratic Party: Anna Conti gave up on caucusing. “This was my first experience with a caucus (been voting for 48 years) and it did not go well,” she wrote.

Conti found long and confusing lines. “No one seemed to know where to go, and ‘official’ caucus workers didn't know either. In fact, they all seemed irritated by our questions. The last one told me, ‘I don't know, you'll just have to wait.’”

She came upon an older man in a walker. They could not find a disabled section or a place to sit.

“I hung with him for a while — he was also looking for the place where we could register. We never found it or a chair,” Continuing said. “Eventually I gave up and walked home. … This thing today was shaping up to be hours-long. How is that fair to everyone? But mostly, my complaint is with the Democratic Party, which was running this event. It seems to me they have the money to provide adequate signage, ADA [Americans With Disabilities Act] facilities, and knowledgeable people to direct the crowds.”

• Text check-in not working: Dan reported at Fernley Intermediate School, "Text check-in not working. Lines way too long."

• Cards not counted: James Umbach, caucusing at Hillside Elementary, reported: “We had a couple points of contention in the beginning. First, there were some people who checked in to the caucus, left their cards on the table, and left. The group voted not to count these, as the card clearly said "Give this card to the permanent chair." There were also five people who did hand their cards to the chair before the caucus began, but these, too, were tossed on the theory that the card said the card should be turned in to the PERMANENT chair, and there was no permanent precinct chair until one was elected just after noon.”

• Wrong location reported:

Mike Van Houten says he received a Hillary Clinton flier today with the wrong caucus location and wonders on Facebook if that is related to the Sanders sign in his yard.

• Shaw Middle School: Antoinette Jacobs described the caucus scene for her precinct as a “fiasco.” One person for Bernie Sanders and one person for Hillary Clinton were allowed to speak for one-minute each, with no time for questions or discussion, she said.

“The undecideds had to decide after hearing those two people with nothing else,” she said, adding that the bulk of the time was used to read letters celebrating the Democratic Party from people such as Harry Reid and Catherine Cortez Masto.

“We had about 26 in a classroom,” Jacobs said. “There were four for Bernie, four undecided and 18 for Hillary. ... We got three delegates out of that and Bernie none out of that.”

She said there were probably 20 separate rooms caucusing at the school and she heard from a fellow participant that questions and answers were allowed in another room.

• Hug High School: Gwen Richie reported that the caucus was supposed to start at 11:30 a.m. and by 12:45 p.m., she was still waiting.

• Melton Elementary School: The northwest Reno caucus location had a computer problem so that all who pre-registered could not be verified and had to stand in a long line, said Lenita Powers.

“I pre-registered, came here at 9:48 am and finally got to my caucus group at 11:30. Still waiting for someone to start this party,” she said. “Caucus volunteers are frustrated but very helpful and trying to keep us on-track and upbeat.”

• Peavine Elementary School: Edwin Basl commented, “Completely silly loooonnnnngggg waiting lines. This should be a primary vote, not a caucus process.”

• Desert Oasis High School and Dilworth Middle School: Whitney Seifman reported confusion between the express check-in and walk-up lines, with a lack of visual cues to guide people, at Desert Oasis. Shannon Moore found the same problem at Dilworth.

• McQueen High School: Francis Farley said the scene was very crowded, understaffed and confused but added, “Happy to see so many people turn out.”

Report additional problems on an RGJ document here.