Republican voters in Nevada have the option of participating in two separate contests to pick their preference for the party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
But only one of the contests will officially count toward the nomination process, underscoring the Republican Party’s internal chaos concerning voting processes and voter access.
The dispute stems from a 2021 Nevada law requiring the state to host primary elections, if more than one candidate files, on the first Tuesday in February during a presidential election year. That will be Feb. 6 next year, moving Nevada closer to the beginning of the primary process.
Over the last decade especially, voting rights experts have noted that the caucus system is relatively time-consuming and, thus, inaccessible to many voters compared to the primary system, which allows for options such as mail-in and early voting.
The Nevada GOP unsuccessfully sued to stop the change, but a court affirmed that state parties are allowed to assign delegates using their own methods. That meant the Nevada GOP can still hold its caucus Feb. 8 — which it plans to do — while the state hosts a primary. In essence, because delegates will only be awarded to the winner of the caucus, the primary is for funsies — or bragging rights, perhaps. As NBC News reported, the fact that some candidates are competing in the caucus while others are competing in the primary is likely to cause some confusion among voters, and it’s already irritated some campaign officials who’ve complained the caucus process is rigged to help Donald Trump win.
The Nevada GOP announced its slate of caucus candidates last week. It includes six candidates: Trump, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and businessman Ryan Binkley.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and former Vice President Mike Pence are all slated to participate in the state-run primary.
The split underscores divisions in Republicans’ approach to voting. Leadership in the Nevada GOP helped push Trump’s false claims of fraud following the 2020 election, and the upcoming caucus imposes rules that align with voter suppression measures that Republicans have pushed for after Trump’s loss. That includes voter ID, paper ballots and only same-day voting. In contrast, Nevada’s GOP primary will require universal mail-in ballot availability, early voting, same-day registration and an ID to register to vote — but not at the polls, as The Associated Press reported.
So in February, we’ll see two Republican contests in Nevada. One primary officiated according to democratic norms and a caucus seemingly tilted in Trump's favor and tainted by his demands.