KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
Saturday is the Democratic caucus for the Kodiak district, and the number of attendees will determine the method of voting. According to Secretary Treasurer of the Kodiak Democratic Party, Stosh Anderson, who’s heading up the caucus this year, the organizers might count heads or ask voters to write their preferences down on cards – whichever is more efficient.
“We’ve done it differently different times where we’ve had a lot of people participating, and we’ve just asked everyone to leave the room, and people supporting one candidate came in one door and people supporting the other came in the other door, and we just count them as they come in. We’ll figure out what’s the most appropriate. It’s nice not to have to divide people.”
It’s unclear how many voters will show up. Leading Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders would be hard-pressed to rally the kind of crowd Barack Obama did during his groundbreaking first election. Anderson says the caucus room was packed in 2008, whereas four years ago, there were 20 to 30 voters.
It’s an extra challenge to have the caucus on a Saturday, especially if there’s good weather. Anderson says, in previous years, the local party could schedule the caucus within a certain time frame, but this year, the national and state party agreed on the day and hour.
“If it’s a beautiful, sunshiny day and absolutely gorgeous, we’re gonna have a very poor turnout. After all this rain and wind, people are gonna be finding other things to do. So, it just depends on who shows up. I’m hoping people will show up, but I think that’s just the nature of Kodiak. When you get some sunshine here, you gotta make the best of it.”
Democrats will elect delegates to attend the State Convention, which is May 13 to 15 in Anchorage, and the selected candidates from that convention will continue onto the Democratic National Convention in July.
Kodiak’s Democratic Caucus will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fisherman’s Hall.
