Click here for general information from the WA state Democratic Party.  I'll link information from the 45th LD when available.

Attend the General Meeting of the 45th LD Democrats on the first Wednesday of each month at 7pm, at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 NE 80th St, Redmond, for more information on the upcoming caucuses and conventions.

Here's a basic outline of what you can expect for the LD Caucus on April 5th at Juanita High School.  This isn't official, however.  The process could take most of the day - democracy is a messy business.  If you are a delegate OR an alternate, you should plan on coming.  Some delegates might need to leave early, or people who were sure they would attend might have some emergency or health issue, so you caqn never be sure if you'll be needed as an alternate.  And there will be plenty you can do to help the event run smoothly, even if you are not voting as a delegate.

1. Arrive early.  We'll have have hundreds and hundreds of people to get signed in, rooms to set up, etc.  Your help is appreciated.


2. While the credentials committee goes through all the sign-ins, there will be various speakers and party business.  This could take a while - they have to figure out which alternates will serve as delegates and so on.


3. The 45th LD spans two separate Congressional Districts.  Since our job is to elect delegates to the Congressional District caucuses, this will require splitting into two groups - one for the 1st Congressional District, and one for the 8th Congressional District.  There will a total of 45 delegates and 23 alternates elected for the 45th LD; we're still waiting for official word on how these delegates are split between the 1st and 8th Congressional Districts.


4. All the sign-ins will be made official, and initial allocation of delegates for Obama, Clinton, and Uncommitted will be made.  Again, this will be happening separately for those of us in the 1st versus the 8th Congressional Districts.


5. There will be speeches, and possibly some other activites; delegates can change their candidate choice at this time.  There is nothing set in stone about any delegate's stated candidate preference at this stage; just like at the precinct caucus, anyone and everyone has a chance to change their allegiance.  Should you be tempted to change, just remember all the enthusiastic Obama supporters in your neighborhood that you'd be letting down.    Since it's unlikely that any Uncommitted delegates will come out of this stage, any delegates that came into the caucus as uncommitted will be the center of attention.


6. Once vote changes have been tallied, the final delegate count will be announced, and we'll break into groups by candidate.  Since we're also broken down by Congressional District at this stage, there will be 4 separate sub-caucuses (Obama 1st CD, Obama 8th CD, Clinton 1st CD, Clinton 8th CD).  Each of these sub-caucuses now needs to elect delegates and alternates.


7. Any delegate or alternate can run to be a delegate to the Congressional District level.  Anyone else can too, for that matter.  If you are not already a delegate or alternates, you just need to write a letter to the chair of the 45th LD Democratic Party stating that you're a Democrat and which candidate you support, and you can run as a delegate for the Congressional District level.


8. People will give speeches, there will be a ballot vote, and the delegates will be elected.  Note that this process was awful in 2004 (majority vote was required); the rules will probably be relaxed this year, and multiple ballots will only be needed if there is a tie.


9. Delegates to the Congressional District level will go through a similar process a month later.  Both the 1st and 8th CD elect 6 delegates and 1 alternate to go to the national convention.  The delegates will be split equally among male and female, and the alternates will be female.