News
What You Need to Know for the 5th Congressional District Caucus
May 8, 2016
The 128 delegates and 64 alternates elected at the Legislative District Caucuses on April 17 and the County Conventions on May 1 in the 5th Congressional District are expected to attend the 5th Congressional District Caucus, to be held on Saturday, May 21 at 1:00 pm at Logan Elementary School in Spokane. At the caucus, five delegates will be chosen to attend the Democratic National Convention and one Elector (and an Alternate Elector) to the Electoral College will be chosen.
Location and Directions
The school is located at 1001 E Montgomery Ave, just east of Hamilton Street. For those traveling from other counties to the caucus, directions are as follows:
From the North: Take Division Street south to Montgomery Avenue. Turn east (left) onto Montgomery and continue until it crosses Hamilton Street. The school will be on the left.
From the West: From Interstate 90, take the Hamilton Street exit and travel north approximately 1.4 miles from the traffic light at Trent/Spokane Falls Blvd. At Montgomery (just north of Illinois Ave), turn east (right). The school will be on your left.
From the South: Take 195 (or other major roads) to Interstate 90 East. From Interstate 90, take the Hamilton Street exit and travel north approximately 1.4 miles from the traffic light at Trent/Spokane Falls Blvd. At Montgomery (just north of Illinois Ave), turn east (right). The school will be on your left.
Suggested Arrival Times and Delegate/Alternate Registration Windows
All individuals are encouraged to carpool if possible as parking at the school is limited. Please allow sufficient time to find street parking (which is plentiful). Spokane Transit Authority also provides public transportation to within one block of the caucus site.
- Volunteers are encouraged to arrive by 11:15 am to prepare for the caucus.
- Delegates are encouraged to arrive by 12:00 noon to register with the Caucus Secretary (and if they are candidates for national delegate and/or Elector, to meet informally with other delegates to promote their candidacy).
- Alternates are encouraged to arrive by 12:00 noon to register with the Caucus Secretary (and if they are candidates for national delegate and/or Elector, to meet informally with delegates to promote their candidacy).
- Candidates for the five national convention delegate positions being elected by the delegates to the 5th Congressional District Caucus should consider arriving at or about 12:00 noon for the opportunity to meet informally with delegates to promote their candidacy. There is no registration process for candidates on the day of the caucus, but candidates will be asked to "sign in". The deadline to apply to be a national convention delegate at the congressional district level has passed. No nominations for national delegate will be taken from the floor.
- Candidates for Elector should consider arriving at or about 12:00 noon for the opportunity to meet informally with delegates to promote their candidacy. There is no registration process on the day of the caucus, but candidates will be asked to "sign in". Nominations for Elector (which require a second) will be taken from the floor at the appropriate point in the Agenda.
- Guests and Visitors should plan to arrive at a time convenient to them. There is no registration process for guests and visitors on the day of the caucus, but guests and visitors will be asked to "sign in".
Agenda
The caucus will be called to order at 1:00 pm by the Permanent Chair in the Multi-Purpose Room.
- Caucus Officers will be appointed by the Permanent Chair.
- Pledge of Allegiance.
- Agenda and Rules (provided with the Call) will be discussed. The Agenda and Rules may not be amended by the body.
- Preliminary Credentials Report from the Caucus Secretary.
- Seating of Alternates in the place of absent delegates.
- Speeches by representatives of presidential campaigns (maximum of 3 minutes each).
- Opportunity for delegates to change presidential preference begins.
- Election of Presidential Elector and Alternate begins (each candidate may use up to 1 minute for nominating, seconding, and/or candidate speech).
- If no candidate receives a majority, the two highest vote getters (one man and one woman) stand for election in a subsequent ballot.
- Once an Elector has been chosen, the candidate of the opposite gender receiving the next highest number of votes is designated as the Alternate Elector.
- Opportunity for delegates to change presidential preference ends.
- Final Credentials Report from the Caucus Secretary.
- Allocation of Delegates between Presidential Preferences.
- Sub-Caucuses meet for the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention.
- Clinton Sub-Caucus is in the Gymnasium. Based on preliminary allocation calculations, the Clinton presidential preference is likely to be allocated one delegate (1 woman) to the Democratic National Convention.
- Sanders Sub-Caucus is in the Multi-Purpose Room. Based on preliminary allocation calculations, the Sanders presidential preference is likely to be allocated four delegates (2 women and 2 men) to the Democratic National Convention.
- Sub-Caucus Secretary is appointed by each Sub-Caucus Chair.
- Each candidate for delegate may use up to 1 minute for nominating, seconding and/or a candidate speech.
- Voting shall be by Sub-Caucus Delegates, with all positions filled and no duplications.
- Ties will be decided by lot (coin toss).
- Elected delegates shall come to the front of the room to fill out paperwork for the State Party and the Democratic National Convention.
- Good of the Order (delegates only).
- Adjournment.
Tips and Advice
There are a significant number of candidates for delegate to the national convention. Each candidate for national delegate will be allowed up to one minute (strictly timed) for nominating, seconding, and/or a candidate speech (at the candidate's discretion).
It is likely that the Clinton sub-caucus will finish its work well before before the Sanders sub-caucus finishes its delegate selection process.
Sanders delegates and candidates for national delegate for Sanders should anticipate a long day. The school has been booked until 7:00 pm.