By Schuyler Yager – Op-Ed Editor, Reporter
Every day, headlines are plastered with the newest gossip about all of the presidential candidates. Whether it is Trump or Cruz or Clinton the buzz is non-stop. Last night, a big part of the election process is took place at Rangeview High School. The 2016 Democratic Caucus was partially hosted at Rangeview.
This means that registered Colorado Democrats over the age of 18 showed up at Rangeview to decide if they want Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders to be the presidential candidate for the 2016 election.
Before the event, Civics and Law & Government Teacher Mr. Hamilton said, “I’ll be interested to see how many people show up.” Though he was unsure about student participation he said, “I don’t know if many students show up since you have to be a registered democrat.”
The Colorado Democrats were clear on the rules about who can participate. They said participants must be 18 by the caucus and a registered Democrat to have participated in this caucus.
“I’m so-so,” said senior Ronald McQueen, who will be able to vote in the election, but was ineligible to vote in the caucus due to age limitations. “I wish I could vote in the caucus, but overall I’m indifferent.”
Rangeview’s parking lot was packed full of cars and people began parking out on Telluride Street, the commons were as full as it is during normal lunch time.
“Only 15% of registered democrats tend to show up to caucuses,” said Mitch Stillman, a Bernie Sanders ‘Caucus Captain’. The New York Times reported almost 122,000 votes out of the state of Colorado. Colorado Sec. of State Wayne W. Williams reports that there are about 918,000 active registered democrats in Colorado. That means about 13% of registered Democrats showed up to caucus.
Stillman explained the whole Caucus process. “Each precinct gets two tables and representatives for Bernie and Hilary talk to each table. they then take a show of hands to see which candidate won the precinct.” He explained. “ Some math is done and that shows us how many delegates that precinct gets in the county conference.”
The Caucus process is a first step in deciding who each party wants to represent them in the general election. Bernie Sanders won the caucus in Colorado; however, Hillary Clinton has the lead over more states and delegates in the primaries.
