Posted at 12:01 p.m., Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Hawai'i Dems hold presidential caucuses tonight
By Gordon Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Only registered Democrats can participate in presidential preference polling. Anyone who is a registered voter can sign up at the door tonight to become a Democrat, however, according to Hawai'i party chairman Alex Santiago.
The caucus meetings are being held at more than 50 sites across the state, about 35 of them on O'ahu. Voters wishing to find out where to go should check www.hawaiidemocrats.org or call party headquarters at 596-2980.
Polling will take place from 7 to 7:30 p.m., although people may still be able to cast a ballot if they show by about 8, Santiago said.
He estimated that more than 500 Hawai'i voters have registered in the past two weeks, which he attributed to "anti-Bush sentiment." There are an estimated 23,000 registered Democrats in the state, Santiago said.
Hawai'i Democrats will have 20 pledged delegate votes out of a national total of 3,520 at the Democratic National Convention in Boston this summer.
Those participating in the state convention, set for May 28 to 30, will choose 13 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Hawai'i's congressional delegation will take four slots, and the party leadership will select another 12 delegates. Of the 29 total delegates, 20 will be pledged to vote for specific candidates according to the outcome of tonight's presidential preference poll.
