Caucus party-switchers may have to re-register party ID… again

LAS VEGAS—It is a story that has been rumored about for months. Some Nevada Republicans, taking advantage of state Democratic rules that allowed them to register as Democrats the day of the Jan. 19 caucus, may have participated in their own party’s caucus in the early morning, switched parties to take part in the Democratic caucuses afterward, only to re-register again as Republicans shortly thereafter.

Unfortunately for those who may have thus attempted to multiply their say in the nomination process, however, they just might still be registered as Democrats.

Matt Griffin, deputy secretary of state for elections, said today that he “got the feeling” from county registrars that indeed some Republicans may have made that multiple party switch, but because of a delay from Democrats in submitting registrations from the caucus, later party switches may be overridden.

“I couldn’t say how many did that, but there was a small amount in each county and in each of the larger counties,” said Griffin. “But there’s no way to tell how many have switched back yet.”

“The way the parties decided to register at the caucuses, the clerks don’t receive those registrations until weeks afterwards. So conceivably what’s happened is, if I’m a Republican, I go down to the caucus and register as a Democrat and then a week after, I go back and change my registration back to Republican. The clerks have not gotten my Democratic registration yet, so when they do, I’ll be registered as a Democrat and may not know it.”

Anyone falling into this registration loophole-in-time may not realize they are still registered as a Democrat until they receive their voter registration card or, if they don’t pay attention to that, their sample ballot for the August primary.

Griffin encouraged Nevada voters to be proactive about checking their registrations and correcting their party affiliation, if applicable.

“We have an interest in letting people know if they’re registered in a party they don’t want to be registered in,” said Griffin.

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