State pulls off caucuses, but not without some hitches

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Democratic officials deemed Saturday’s caucuses a “huge success,” but some participants expressed grievances about long lines, check-in delays and other issues.

At Caesars Palace, one of the six at-large precincts, a couple of hundred caucus-goers were waiting to register outside the ballroom. Caucusing Strip workers from Caesars and Bellagio voiced concern about the pace of the proceedings, saying their employers had given them paid time off to attend.

“Could be a problem at Caesars,” tweeted Yvanna Cancela, political director for the Culinary Union, which represents a number of Strip workers. “Lines not moving and folks need to get back to work.”

A few minutes after noon, Democratic Party officials decided to let all the people into the ballroom and register them inside. Cancela praised the state party’s quick thinking.

“Problem solved. No one is leaving,” she tweeted. “Room is packed. Time to caucus.”

Hispanic civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, a Clinton supporter, on Twitter accused Sanders supporters of not letting her translate caucus instructions into Spanish at Harrah's.

"I offered to translate & Bernie supporters chanted English only! We fought too long & hard to be silenced Si Se Puede! #ImwithHer #NVcaucus," the tweet read. A video of the incident surfaced online; the words that were shouted were not audible.

The Sanders campaign did not publicly comment on the incident.

Brian Berman, a Sanders supporter, told the Las Vegas Sun that a caucus chairman at Del E. Webb Middle School didn't allow participants to voice their support for their candidates — thereby nullifying a tactic used to woo those still on the fence.

That chairman, Paul Bania, said participants had earlier voted to skip reading support statements.

Sanders won the precinct, where there were no undecided participants, but Berman and others said they would file a complaint.

Democratic strategist Jon Summers said in the afternoon that neither campaign had brought forth grievances.

Participants at Greenspun Middle School encountered long lines and confusion, UNLV Professor Dr. Julian Kilker said. He said the registration software might have crashed or become backlogged, adding, "Many people (were) confused by lack of info."

Kilker said he registered Friday morning but did not receive a required code. Doors opened at noon at the school, but people were still filing into the rooms until nearly 1 p.m.

Organizers ran out of official preference cards because so many people showed up, Kilker said.

Summers, at the Nevada Democrats’ results-reporting center, said the party wasn’t surprised by reports of long lines and delays.

“You never want people to be inconvenienced in the process, but we’re just glad to see the turnout that we’ve seen in the caucuses,” he said, adding, “From everything we’ve seen so far, everything has gone relatively smoothly."

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz echoed those sentiments in a statement, saying, "The strong turnout of eighty thousand Nevadans bodes well for Democrats in November, and I congratulate both of our candidates for running strong campaigns, as well as Hillary Clinton, for her victory."

During a news conference Saturday night at Container Park, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was satisfied with the outcome. He added that he didn’t choose a side in order to be fair and praised both campaigns for their efforts.

The Associated Press called the election for Clinton at 2:15 p.m.

Sun Managing Editor Ric Anderson and reporter Megan Messerly contributed to this story.