Star-Tribune Editorial Board

It's sad to see prospective voters turned away from a political party caucus, especially when election-year enthusiasm brings a record number to the event.

But rules need to be followed, and voters had plenty of opportunity to meet the Wyoming Democratic Party's eligibility requirements. Knowing how to participate is part of being an informed, responsible citizen.

Last-minute campaign visits to Wyoming by presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton sparked a lot of interest in this year's caucuses. The 8,753 votes cast at caucuses around the state were nearly 13 times as many as in 2004.

Participants had to be registered as Democrats by Feb. 22. They also had to be in line to vote by 9:30 a.m. Saturday. That information was available from the Wyoming Democratic Party and county clerks, and it was reported numerous times by the Star-Tribune.

Some Democrats had registered for the 2006 GOP primary and had forgotten to re-register as Democrats. Or they had been purged from the rolls because they hadn't voted in the past two years. Others didn't know they had to register before the caucuses.

Those who showed up after the 9:30 a.m. deadline either were turned away or, in a few cases, were given provisional ballots that ultimately weren't counted. That was the right decision, because each of the 23 caucuses around the state had to abide by the same rules.

Overall, the party responded well to the challenges of finding larger venues and moving people through the voting lines as quickly as possible. The party probably should consider a few changes in 2012, including having more than one place to caucus in counties with two large communities. Distance shouldn't be a barrier to participation.

As we noted in this space last week, any state benefits from competition between two strong parties. Though Saturday's turnout was encouraging for Wyoming's perennial underdog party, it still represented just a fraction of Democratic voters.

Maybe the disappointed Democrats who were turned away this year will learn their lesson and be ready to participate at future caucuses. Even better, maybe they'll bring their friends.