Ok, so there doesn't seem to be many Democrats in this forum, so I am only going to post the GOP (Republican) Primary and Caucus information. Use this to get registered, to vote or just to observe the process. First of all, there are 3 types of state nomination processes. Without going into a load of detail, they are "primary", "caucus", and "convention". Through these three types of primary elections, delegates are selected. After all 50 states and the territories are done, the delegates selected go to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota and choose a Presidential nominee for the Republican party at the Republican National Convention (RNC). Some Primaries are "Open" which means that any registered voter can participate in a certain party's process, or "Closed" meaning that you have to be registered Republican to vote in a closed Primary. Primaries allocate delegates by direct vote. Caucuses select delegates who go to a State Convention later to allocate delegates for the RNC. In some cases, the process can involve two or three levels of delegate voting before national delegates are selected. But every vote counts, so there is no reason not be involved. Now, technically Feb.5th is the earliest sanctioned date for the Primaries to begin. However, some states elect to go early, and this year the Republican National Committee has chosen to penalize early states by reducing their delegate count (lower the impact of these "early" states). Iowa is excluded from penalties, because it's actual nominating process from the straw poll occurs after the sanctioned date. So here are the dates and sequence. Early states can provide momentum to candidates looking to generate more traction going into Super Tuesday. Iowa - January 3rd - Caucus - Closed (but you can switch party affiliation on the day of the Straw Poll) New Hampshire - January 8th - Primary - Open (must be a registered voter) Michigan - January 15th - Primary - Open (must be a registered voter) South Carolina - January 19th - Primary - Open (must be a registered voter) Nevada - January 19th - Caucus - Closed (must be registered R) Florida - January 29th - Primary - Closed (must be registered R) Super Tuesday (Feb. 5th) Alabama - Primary (Open) Alaska - Caucuses (Closed) Arizona - Primary (Closed) Arkansas - Primary (Open) California - Primary (Closed) Colorado - Caucuses (Closed) Connecticut - Primary (Closed) Delaware - Primary (Closed) Georgia - Primary (Open) Illinois - Semi-Open Massachusetts - Primary (Closed) Minnesota - Caucuses (Open) Missouri - Primary (Open) Montana - Caucuses (Closed) (Also has) Primaries (Open) - 6/03 (Primary) New Jersey - Primary (Closed) New York - Primary (Closed) North Dakota - Caucuses (Open) Oklahoma - Primary (Closed) Tennessee - Primary (Open) Utah - Primary (Closed If your state is not listed, you either have nominating conventions and caucuses occuring now through to after Feb 5th, or they occur later. If you want more information on your state's process and date, PM me and I will try to help. No matter what, everyone should be a registered voter, Democrat, Republican or Independent. It's your tax dollars and your country. There is no good excuse not to be involved. Deadlines for registration and party change, or party affiliation are passing every day. Don't wait. PM me if you want information on how to register in your state. I will help you find out, in many cases it is fairly easy and can be done online.
Im gonna register next week and im in california and im excited about voting for the first time ever as there is a candidate finally that has an ounce of brains and tells the truth(RON PAUL).
Just went to the post office and got my registration form postmarked and sent out yesterday. Can't wait for the primaries to begin.
Don't wait too long. The California deadline is coming up really fast. You may be able to start the registration process online.
Thought I would update, tomorrow is a Presidential Preference Primary for Louisiana. This is the Straw Poll held at a caucus, which is followed by delegate selection. The Straw Poll in LA is meaningless unless a candidate gets 50% of the vote, in which case all state delegates are bound to vote for him at the National Convention. I'm expecting the big players in LA to be Paul, Romney and Huckabee. The actual national delegate selection doesn't occur until after Super Tuesday. Also, Maine has it's Presidential Preference Primary for their caucus on Jan 31. They also do their state and national delegate selections later. These states have relatively low delegate counts, but they all add up in the end.
Registered in Florida last month. Never voted on the primaries before, definitely looking forward to this one this year. Go Ron Paul!
Perhaps you should look up the last question asked during the debate earlier this week. Paul addressed this, and thoroughly owned the moderators AGAIN.