Dozens of La Plata County voters identified with a major political party in the week leading up to Monday’s deadline to participate in the precinct caucuses, said Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee Parker.
Parker said 35 voters went online and changed their affiliation Thursday, and another 79 voters did the same thing from 5 p.m. Thursday through Monday morning. Most of those were unaffiliated voters who changed their affiliation to Democratic, she said. Additional residents showed up in person at the Clerk & Recorder’s Office, she said.
It appears the local Democratic Party was active in getting people to affiliate, she said.
“It sounds like they’re doing a pretty big push,” Parker said.
Jean Walter, chairwoman of the La Plata County Democrats, said the local Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns are working hard to convince residents to affiliate and participate in the March 1 caucus.
“A lot of people don’t affiliate, and this, I think, shows they will affiliate when they have a reason – when they want to support a particular candidate,” Walter said. “And they know they can disaffiliate the next day.”
Precinct caucuses are meetings of registered voters who are members of a particular major party. At the caucus, eligible electors nominate delegates to county assemblies.
shane@durangoherald.com
