How confusing are the Democratic Party of Hawai'i's caucus rules? Party leaders needed help from the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., to figure them out.

The party announced yesterday that 20 of Hawai'i's 29 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August will be awarded to the presidential candidates based on the results of the Feb. 19 caucuses. Party leaders had been saying as late as Wednesday the number was 13.

"Everything you've read about the Democratic (caucus) process being complicated is absolutely true," said Jeani Withington, a Big Island attorney and interim party chairwoman, who added that the party was trying to be as inclusive as possible in its delegate selection plan. "It is complicated."

Local volunteers for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois have been saying for the past week that their reading of the caucus rules was that 20 delegates are in play. Local volunteers for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York had also agreed by late Wednesday that the correct figure was 20.

Florence Kong Kee, the party's political director, had a conference call yesterday with the DNC to clarify the situation. "We went ahead and cleared it up," she said.

In fairness, the party is run by a small paid staff and volunteers and, while the delegate selection plan was publicly available for months, few really dived into the details until it became apparent the Hawai'i caucuses could matter to the nomination.

Lynne Matusow, who leads the party's rules committee and was involved in drafting the delegate selection plan, said it was just amended — with DNC approval — to make it clear. "It's not easy," she said.

Kong Kee said yesterday she may order another 2,000 to 3,000 caucus ballots today because she fears the 12,000 already printed may not be adequate. Between Wednesday night and yesterday morning, for example, more than 250 people joined the party via its Web site. She said about 100 people a day have been joining the party online since the start of the month.

"That doesn't even count the people who are walking in," she said.

Democrats at the caucuses will vote in a presidential preference poll on Feb. 19 and will select delegates to the county and state conventions. A presidential candidate must get at least 15 percent of the vote in the preference poll to be eligible for a share of the 20 delegates, which will be awarded proportionally based on the poll results.

At stake for the candidates are 13 district-level delegates, four at-large delegates, and three pledged party leader and elected official delegates. The 13 district-level delegates will be elected to go to the national convention by delegates at the state convention in May. The at-large and pledged party leader delegates will be chosen to go to the national convention by the state central committee.

The remaining nine delegates — not in play at the caucuses — are one unpledged add-on delegate chosen by the state central committee, two local DNC members, the party chair and vice chair, and the four members of the state's congressional delegation.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.