Democrats, Republicans to caucus differently on Super Tuesday

Colorado votes in the state’s presidential caucus on March 1.

Democrats will hold a straightforward preference or straw poll

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders stopped in Denver this week to court votes.

Colorado Republicans won’t be voting for a winner, giving candidates little incentive to campaign here, just one of the reasons why some party leaders want to do away with the caucus system.

“I would prefer the primary that puts us early on, having a more direct role in the selection of the president,” Secretary of State Wayne Williams said.

“There’s not really a good argument for a system where only people who are free on a particular Tuesday night can participate,” Daniel Cole with the El Paso County Republican Party said. “If you’re working you can’t participate, if you can’t find child care you can’t participate.”

Those Republicans who participate will elect delegates to the state assembly in April who then elect others delegates to the nominating convention in Cleveland this coming July.

The Republican National Committee changed the rules last year.

“It’s the worst atrocity that’s occurred in Colorado politics in the 47 years that I have lived and voted in this state,” former Colorado College political science professor Bob Loevy said. “Colorado Republicans could be actively participating in this most exciting of presidential elections and that right has been taken away.”

According to Cole, in 2012, of the nearly one million registered Republicans across the state, only 70,000 turned out.