Midvale Republican Presidential Caucus Results
It was a low-key affair in Midvale at the Republican Presidential Caucus voting on Saturday, March 2. When the doors opened at noon people were able to vote and leave right away. Only 71 voters came out of the 471 registered Republicans in the Midvale precinct. That is a fifteen percent turnout for the caucus. At the end of the day Donald Trump had 65, Nikki Haley 5 and DeSantis 1. The 85 percent remainder of the registered Republicans just did not show. When asked why, some said there was no choice on the ballot, there was no one on the ballot they wished to vote for, and some did not get a postcard notice. Others felt it would not matter if they voted or not.
Statewide results show Donald Trump winning with only six percent of registered Republicans coming to the caucus to vote for him. There are over 500,000 registered Republicans statewide and 33,603 came out to vote for Trump. Nikki Haley received 5,221 votes statewide. Despite the low numbers, GOP state chairwoman Dorothy Moon, said it “reaffirms Idaho’s status as “Trump Country” with his resounding victory in our caucus.”
The following explains the voting process at the Midvale caucus, similar to others in the state:
The caucus was manned by two greeters who asked for ID and for a signature beside the name in the registered Republicans poll book. A hand stamp was made. The next table was manned by two more workers with information on Ranked Choice Voting and the Reclaim Idaho initiative, urging voters to say “no”. Also passed out was a business card for the local precinct committee person. A second handstamp was made over the first. The single ballot was then handed to each voter. The voter was told that only two candidates were still running and all the remaining names on the ballot had dropped out.
There was a video to watch if anyone wished to. It featured only two candidates speaking and lasted about five minutes. Donald Trump tailored the beginning of his to Idaho voters and Nikki Haley’s speech was more general. Other names listed on the ballot had no video presentation. They were Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie and Ryan L. Binkley. There was no write-in option.
Ballots were printed on card stock and privacy was provided for voting. After marking their choice, voters placed their ballots into a clear lockable plastic bin, with some falling face up and some face down. Each precinct provided their own bin.
After voters had stopped coming, the six party workers opened the bin and tallied the votes twice. One watcher was present to observe the counting. The results were Trump 65, Haley 5, and DeSantis 1 for a total of 71 votes.
The results were then phoned into the Republican Party headquarters by Midvale Precinct Committeeman and Captain of the caucus, Jay Langer. Answering the phone was the state GOP chairwoman Dorothy Moon. The tabulation sheets were also photographed and sent via e-mail. The ballots, including those unused, and the poll books were then sent by FedEx to the Republican party headquarters in Boise.
The entire statewide event was paid for by the candidates and the party, with no taxpayer dollars involved. For more results by each precinct, go to idgop.org.
