Those turned away on Saturday weren't registered
TOM MORTON Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:00 am
Both joy and disappointment rode the wake of Saturday's stunning turnout at Democratic Party caucuses.
"This was the biggest thing Wyoming has seen for years," Natrona County Clerk Renea Vitto said. "That's all people are talking about."
The 943 participants in Natrona County alone marked a nearly 40 percent increase over the 675 Democrats statewide who participated in the last presidential caucuses.
Even before the Feb. 22 deadline for voters to register as Democrats, Vitto said she and the other county clerks meeting in Cheyenne were anticipating a large turnout.
But the Wyoming interest compounded after the March 5 primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island when Hillary Clinton deflected what the conventional wisdom held would be a virtual primary-cinching win by Barack Obama.
Obama and Clinton - well as Clinton's husband and daughter - attracted about 15,000 people on Thursday and Friday during campaign stops in Wyoming.
Then came the caucuses on Saturday, which attracted 8,753 participants; including Teton County with 1,150 Democrats or 34 percent of the total registered in the county, and a 25 percent turnout in Johnson County, said Wyoming Democratic Party spokesman Bill Luckett. He had estimated a turnout of about 7,000 late last week.
A few problems dogged the venue-busting caucuses.
People who weren't in line to register by the cutoff time of 9:30 a.m. were turned away.
Others were angry when told they weren't on the county clerks' voter registration lists. On Monday, Vitto said, four of them came to the Casper elections office to voice their concerns.
So her staff brought the voting records archives from the Natrona County Road and Bridge Department and found the lack of registration had plausible, if seemingly picky, explanations.
Most of the spurned caucusers at one time had registered as Republicans to vote in primaries, and had not re-registered as Democrats, Vitto said.
One woman was registered under her maiden name but not her married name. Others were the victims of a state law requiring county clerks to purge their voter registration lists every two years after general elections, Vitto said.
The clerks offices send notifications telling those voters they're about to be purged, and give them an opportunity to keep their registrations current, she said.
These reasons explained why caucus organizers sometimes had to turn people away, Vitto said.
That may have been difficult, but it was necessary, Luckett said. "We had to abide by our rules."
Post-caucus debriefings may lead to changes, he said.
One potential change may allow a county party to have more than one caucus location. "It would have been easier to manage the crowds," Luckett said.
The geographical size of some counties led to logistical and transportation problems, he said:
* Democrats in the Star Valley had to drive south 100 miles or more to the Lincoln County seat of Kemmerer.
* Sweetwater County has two sizable cities, Rock Springs and caucus site Green River.
* Likewise, Fremont County has Riverton and Lander with Dubois about 80 miles west of both.
* Because the seasonal closure of the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park, Democrats living in the park had to drive northeast into Cooke City in Montana then southeast on Wyoming Highway 296 to Cody.
On balance, the hope outweighed the headaches, Luckett said.
Last week's candidate visits and the international media attention have fired up the party, he said.
The county parties in Johnson and Campbell counties were able to fill all their positions - chairman, vice chairman, secretary and treasurer - in their local organizations as a result of the enthusiasm, Luckett said.
He heard of people volunteering to run for legislative and other offices in GOP stronghold counties where the usual choice on a ballot is Republican or nothing.
"The biggest challenge is an opportunity we're presented with in the party," he said. "We just had a huge statewide event."
Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.