NEVADA, USA — Nevada Democrats are hoping to avoid a repeat of the chaos that ensnared the Iowa caucuses, as voters gather across the Silver State on Saturday to make their presidential preferences known.
Earlier this month, a rushed effort by Iowa Democrats to deploy a mobile app for caucus volunteers to report initial results on their personal cell phones ended in failure.
Democrats in Nevada were going to use the same app developer as Iowa did, but quickly sidelined those plans. They will still be relying to some extent on technology to assist in counting and reporting results, though, and like Iowa, will have paper backups.
The Nevada Democratic Party says it will not guarantee that results will be available Saturday as it emphasizes accuracy over speed.
The election comes at a critical moment for the Democratic Party as self-described democratic socialist Bernie Sanders emerges as the clear front-runner in the still-crowded field.
Like Iowa, Nevada will be reporting the initial preference vote, the realignment vote, and the state delegate equivalents that will determine the winner.
Nevada has 36 national delegates up for grabs. Unlike Republicans whose contests are winner-take-all, Democrats use proportional distribution. So chances are unlikely someone walks away with all 36.
The Nevada Democratic Party released an eight-minute video on YouTube on Feb. 20 to help voters understand the causes calculator. It's also supposed to help voters prepare to vote.