Kayla Williams fills out a mailing list form for democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang at UNLV, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020.
Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Third-year UNLV student Sky Castle supports equal rights for all. The Detroit native, a member of the LGBTQ community, says they are directly impacted by those issues, and will vote accordingly in the general election.
“There are a lot of things that are pretty concerning,” Castle said of the national political climate.
But they plan to sit out the upcoming Democratic Party presidential caucus, citing a lack of information about the process. Castle described the caucus and the idea of collectively picking a nominee with other Democrats as “a lot.”
“I should be looking more into it and when I should be participating in these things, but I don’t really do that. I’d like to if I knew more information,” Castle said.
In Nevada, youth voter turnout soared in the 2018 midterm elections, with more people ages 18 to 29 turning out to vote than in the past seven midterms. While the latest polling in Iowa is predicting high youth participation in that state’s caucus, it is unclear whether a large number of young people will take part in the Nevada caucus.
Unlike general or primary elections, caucuses are run by the political parties. As such, potential caucus participants in Clark County will not receive notices in the mail from the Clark County Elections Department as is the case during traditional elections, said Sondra Cosgrove, president of the Southern Nevada chapter of the League of Women Voters.
“Even though you might have young people saying, ‘I’m going to be engaged’ and waiting for a sample ballot, that’s not going to come,” Cosgrove said.
As a party-run process, there is no data available on historic turnout by demographics, including by age, said Nevada Democratic Party Communications Director Molly Forgey. It is therefore difficult to say how many young people have turned out for past caucuses.
This year, a host of organizations are working to bring caucus information to young Nevadans and students. Some of the political issues that matter to UNLV students include diversity and representation, student debt, immigration and reproductive rights, said university teaching and learning librarian Chelsea Heinbach. That's based on the topics students consistently research at the library for persuasive essays, she said.
The university's library system is hosting a series of events to promote civic engagement ahead of the caucus, the general election and the 2020 Census. As such, the League of Women Voters held two drop-in educational events at the Lied Library last month for UNLV students and members of the surrounding community curious about caucusing and voter registration, UNLV outreach librarian Rosan Mitola said.
“We saw this as a way to be more intentional about caucusing, to provide students the space to jump on a computer and see if they had anything that needed to be updated, and also as a way for us to talk about our upcoming series,” Mitola said.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan civic organization, is holding a similar — but bigger — event Feb. 13 at the College of Southern Nevada, Cosgrove said. Featuring live music and free food, “I Heart Civics Fest” will give students an opportunity to register to vote, ask questions about the caucus and learn about civic engagement.
“We have to make sure they know there’s a different process (for the caucus),” said Cosgrove, a professor of history at CSN. “That’s why we’re going to be as loud and fun as we possibly can.”
The Nevada Democratic Party is reaching out to colleges and high schools in Clark County to educate would-be caucusgoers and get young people involved, Forgey said. The party held a training at UNR on Jan. 27 and another one at UNLV on Wednesday. Party leaders have also recruited high school seniors to serve as temporary precinct chairs on caucus day, she said.
“What’s unique is that you can participate in a caucus if you’re 17 years old, so long as you will be 18 on Nov. 3,” Forgey said. “So we don’t want anyone to feel discouraged or like they can’t participate because they’re not 18.”
One thing that could get more young people involved is early voting, offered this year for the first time, predicts UNLV sophomore Scott Egnor, a volunteer for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign. Because some students on campus find the caucus process confusing or overly time-consuming, Egnor said that many might vote early between Feb. 15 and 18.
Signs in support of democratic presidential candidates lay on the UNLV Young Democrats booth at UNLV, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020.
“A lot of students don’t have two or three hours to stand in a cafeteria or in a building,” he said. “I really like that they have the early voting, and I think a lot of students are going to use that.”
Early voting sites will be available on the three main campuses of the College of Southern Nevada and at UNLV, as well as at UNR and Truckee Meadows Community College in Northern Nevada, Forgey said. Students can look up the nearest early voting site and their caucus location at nvdems.com. The party was unable to secure caucus sites on college campuses in Las Vegas, Forgey said.
Although caucusing is daunting for some students, a handful of students at UNLV said they’re excited to take part. Joseph Gumalo, a second-year student and Andrew Yang supporter, called caucuses “a democratic idea.”
“I think it’s a good American tradition, how everyone can come together and discuss ideas and their views on America and the Democratic Party,” Gumalo said.
Angel Lazcano, a UNLV junior, said he expects many young Nevadans will participate in the caucus or early vote given Nevada’s high youth voter turnout in 2018. A Bernie Sanders supporter and volunteer, Lazcano also predicts that Sanders’ popularity among young people will bring more youth out on caucus day.
“I feel like Bernie’s platform is going to move people,” Lazcano said.
Students and anyone else looking for more information about the candidates and the issues ahead of the caucus can attend the UNLV Lied library's “Voting 101” workshop, which is scheduled for Feb. 13 at 2:30 p.m. The workshop is the last civic engagement event the library has planned before the caucus, but there will be more events throughout the semester.
“We’re hoping we’ve created a number of different ways for students to get involved,” Mitola said.
