NM Dem Presidential Preference Caucus: Only Chance to Vote for Dem Prez Nominees

I spoke this morning with Ana Canales, who chairs the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County. She expressed concern that some Democrats seem to have misconceptions about the NM Dem Party's February 5, 2008 Presidential Preference Caucus and our later state primary election on June 3, 2008.

February 5th Dem Caucus
Just to be clear, the only opportunity for registered Democrats to vote for their favorite Dem presidential nominee is at the February 5th Caucus. The Caucus will take place at 184 polling places around the state, and is organized and paid for by the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

You will need to know your precinct number in order to find your Caucus polling place. Type in your address here to determine your precinct if you live in Bernalillo County. Statewide, you can check to see if you are registered to vote and find your precinct number by using the Secretary of State's Voter View tool. Your caucus polling place may or may not be the same as the one where you usually vote in regular elections. Check here to determine the location of your February 5th caucus polling place. This page has Caucus locations for all precincts in all New Mexico counties.

Polls will be open from Noon to 7:00 PM on February 5th. There will be no early in-person voting, and the deadline is past for requesting an absentee (mail-in) ballot. So is the deadline for registering as a Dem if you've been unregistered or registered as an independent or with a party other than the Democratic Party.

June 3rd Primary
There will be no presidential nominee choices on the June 3nd Dem primary ballot. Only state reps and senate (legislative) candidates and those competing for U.S. House and Senate slots will be running to be Dem nominees in the primary this year.

On the Republican side, they'll be choosing their nominees for president, as well as those competing to get on the Repub ticket in state races and U.S. House and Senate slots. Unlike the Democratic Party, Repubs in NM have not created an early caucus here for their presidential nomination race.

All clear now?