Just a reminder to those voters who are registered as unaffiliated: In order to participate in nominating either a particular presidential candidate (Democrats) or a delegate to the national convention (Republicans) in 2016, you must declare a party affiliation by the end of this year.
It is easy to change your affiliation. You can go to the County Clerk’s office on Main in Cortez or go online to govotecolorado.com (which takes you to the Secretary of State’s website) and follow the directions.
The reason I am writing this letter is because I have been told that in prior years’ elections a number of unaffiliated voters were surprised to find that they were not eligible to participate in Democratic or Republican caucuses because they weren’t registered as either a Democrat or a Republican. According to the Colorado Democrats’ website, in order to vote at caucus, you must be: (1) A resident of your precinct for at least 30 days, (2) Registered to vote no later than 29 days before the caucus; and (3) Affiliated with the party holding the caucus for at least two months before the caucus.
Both Democrats and Republicans are currently scheduled to hold their caucuses on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. There are about 6,000 Montezuma County voters registered as unaffiliated. That’s a lot of voters who won’t have an input into the nominating process for the major parties in an election year that promises to be a doozy. Additionally, the caucuses do more than nominate presidential candidates or convention delegates, as they have input into various measures that affect local and state policies.
Tulli Kerstetter
Mancos