Nevada Republican Party Announces Date for 2024 Presidential Caucuses
The Nevada Republican Party has announced that its 2024 presidential caucuses will be held on February 8, making it the third Republican nominating contest after the Iowa caucuses on January 15 and the New Hampshire primary, which has yet to receive an official date but is expected to follow Iowa. The South Carolina Republican primary will take place on February 24. This schedule will spread out the first four contests over six weeks, potentially making it more challenging for candidates to maintain the necessary resources to campaign across multiple states.
This early-state line-up represents a change from previous Republican calendars, where Nevada was the last of the four early states to vote before Super Tuesday. However, in 2024, additional GOP nominating contests are likely to be held before Super Tuesday on March 5. Michigan Republicans are proposing a plan to split their nominating process between a state-run primary on February 27 and caucuses on March 2, pending approval from the Republican National Committee. Idaho Republicans are also planning caucuses on March 2, the first day most states are allowed to vote under national GOP rules. The US Virgin Islands will hold a caucus no later than March 2, with the final date yet to be announced. North Dakota’s GOP presidential caucuses will take place on March 4.
The Nevada Republican caucuses will begin at 5 p.m. local time and will only allow absentee voting for active-duty military members and their dependents. A state law enacted in 2021 states that a primary contest will only be held if more than one candidate files for the ballot from a party. Candidates who participate in the primary will be ineligible for the caucuses or winning delegates. However, Nevada Democrats will use the state-run primary to allocate their delegates.
The 2024 Republican nominating calendar is influenced by changes made by Democrats to their own primary calendar. Under the Democratic plan proposed by President Joe Biden, South Carolina would be the first approved nominating contest on February 3, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire on February 6, and Georgia and Michigan before Super Tuesday. However, Iowa law requires its caucuses to be held before any other state, leading the Iowa Republican caucuses to be scheduled for January to precede the South Carolina Democrats. Despite this, Iowa was removed from the group of early states by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). In response, the Iowa Democratic Party has proposed holding caucuses on the same day as Republicans but only for party business, not for voting for president. The presidential preference vote would be conducted by mail separately. However, the dates for the mail process have not been specified, causing the DNC rules panel to decline approval of the plan. New Hampshire has a state law requiring its presidential primary to take place before any “similar election,” but holding a Democratic primary before South Carolina would result in penalties from the DNC. The DNC rules panel has given New Hampshire more time to comply.
While Nevada and Michigan Democrats will follow the assigned dates in the party plan, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has scheduled the state’s primary for March 12 to avoid violating GOP rules.
Overall, the 2024 Republican nominating calendar reflects a shift in the order of early-state contests and the potential for more states to hold GOP contests before Super Tuesday. The dates and processes for caucuses and primaries are subject to approval and compliance with national party rules.
Original Story at www.cnn.com – 2023-08-14 21:50:00