Deadline nears for precinct caucuses

Anyone hoping to participate in the March GOP or Democratic precinct caucuses for Colorado’s 2018 election cycle must affiliate with one of those parties by Monday in order to join in.

Even though Colorado will allow unaffiliated voters to participate in the June 26 primary elections, in order to take part in the precinct caucuses — the first step in nominating candidates for the November election — people must register as either a Republican or Democrat 60 days in advance.

The precinct caucuses are March 6, so that means midnight Monday is the deadline to register. (Voters can then re-register as unaffiliated again after the caucuses if they wish.)

Delegates chosen at those caucuses will go on to represent candidates at the party’s various assemblies.

“This is really a crucial step in our democratic process,” Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams said in a written statement.

Candidates hoping to get on the ballot for their party’s primary election can either go through the caucus route or petition their way on by collecting signatures through an expensive process.

For the petition process, candidates need to get signatures from voters in their party. That means anyone hoping to sign a petition for a candidate, who is now registered as an unaffiliated voter, must also affiliate with a party in order to participate in that process.

Candidates can begin circulating petitions on Jan. 16 and they must be returned on March 20.

People can register to vote or change their party affiliation at govotecolorado.com or by texting “CO” to “2Vote”. Coloradans also can register or change registration information by appearing in person at their county clerk’s offices, according to the Colorado secretary of state’s office.

Those interested in caucusing can find information about where and when they will be held through the state’s Democratic and Republican parties.