<div class="css-1r2sn2n e1mdktgm0"><section class="css-ia44n3 e1m3q8rc0"><div class="css-b4a1pi e1u9wqfn0"><span class="css-x8vgju e6e0kfy0"><a href="/united-states/" data-analytics="sidebar:section"><span>United States</span></a></span><span class="css-rjcumh e1vi1cqp0"> | Fear and voting in Las Vegas</span></div><h1 class="css-sous8d e1rltfny0">How Nevada’s Republicans made their primary irrelevant</h1><h2 class="css-1u4zxer ezngsea0">The state is holding both a caucus and a primary. Voters are confused</h2></section></div><div class="css-kpd7oo e1mdktgm0"><section class="css-1ugvd2u e18wk22u0"></section></div><div class="css-1r2sn2n e1mdktgm0"><div class="css-1kmbmzc euxoahl0"><div class="css-1u30nwi e1x31cqm0"><div class="css-jwv1ak ejfltsf0"><div class="css-w0h03k eygoqsu0"><div><time datetime="2024-02-01T14:28:43.321Z" class="css-1c8ktq7 e4cw3vv0"> Feb 1st 2024</time><span class="css-tmjz0q e1x31cqm1">|</span><span class="css-1qrrdy4 exjv8my0">Las Vegas</span></div><div><div class="css-1902i5q eygoqsu0"></div></div></div></div></div><section data-body-id="cp2" class="css-1a9zct9 euw0bys1"><div class="css-1ug4p1a euw0bys2"><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0"><span data-caps="initial">P</span><small>ARTICIPATING IN</small> Nevada’s Republican primary this year is a bit like playing a choose-your-own-adventure game. Your first choice is between voting in the state-run primary election or the caucus put on by Nevada’s Republican Party. You pick the February 6th primary, since the state has kindly mailed you a ballot. But wait: Donald Trump, your preferred candidate, isn’t listed. Instead you can choose between Nikki Haley, two people who are no longer running and four others you have never heard of. What if you picked the caucus on February 8th? Well, then you can vote for Mr Trump or Ryan Binkley, a pastor from Texas. Fans of Ms Haley are out of luck.</p><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0">How did Nevada end up with duelling Republican primaries? In 2021 the state legislature passed a law replacing the caucuses run by the Democratic and Republican parties with state-run primaries on the first Tuesday of February. The move was intended to boost Nevada’s importance in presidential-primary elections by holding them earlier and making them more representative of the electorate. President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee endorsed the change. Nevada and New Hampshire would vote on the same day, behind only South Carolina.</p><aside data-component="infobox" class="css-11qdk61 ed7sk540"><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0"><i>Stay up to date with our new daily update, <a href="https://www.economist.com/in-brief">The <small>US</small> in brief</a>, and our Republican primaries <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/2024-republican-primaries-tracker">poll tracker</a>.</i></p><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0"><i>Read more of our coverage of the <small>US</small> elections of 2024 <a href="https://www.economist.com/us-election-2024">here</a>.</i></p></aside><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0">The bill was bipartisan, but the Nevada Republican Party revolted. Michael McDonald, its chairman and an ardent supporter of Mr Trump, argues that the party objected to the primary because it didn’t require voter-<small>ID</small>. He feared that Democrats, and specifically members of the powerful culinary union, would change their party preference on the day of the poll to skew the results of the Republican primary. To exert control, Republicans decided to put on a caucus. The result is two votes in three days and utter confusion.</p><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0">If a candidate is on the primary ballot they are barred from participating in the caucus, which is the only way to win any of the state’s delegates. Ms Haley has suggested that Mr Trump’s allies in Nevada pushed for a caucus to help his chances. When she was asked why she decided to participate in the meaningless primary instead, she said her campaign would “focus on the states that are fair”. Mr McDonald—who along with several other high-profile Nevada Republicans recently pleaded not guilty to charges alleging that they tried to falsely pledge Nevada’s electoral votes to Mr Trump in 2020—denies that the party put its thumb on the scale.</p><div class="adComponent_advert__V79Pp adComponent_incontent__Bxd2J adComponent_hidden___o_ZB css-0 e1cbnkh80"><div></div></div><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0">The duelling primaries have probably not changed the outcome of the contest. But they have changed politics in the Silver State in two ways. First, voters are miffed that they are being denied an actual choice between the top two candidates. While waiting in line to enter a Trump rally in Las Vegas on January 27th, several said they were baffled when they opened their primary ballot and didn’t see Mr Trump’s name. Karen Marrs, a Las Vegan, says she does not trust the party. “I’m going to do what Trump tells me to do,” she explains.</p><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0">Nevada is not the only important swing state where a chaotic Republican Party could be a liability in November. Republicans in Michigan mutinied against their <small>MAGA</small> party chair, and Arizona’s party chairman resigned on January 24th after a <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/02/01/a-leaked-recording-shakes-up-the-republican-party-in-arizona">recording revealed</a> that he had tried to bribe Kari Lake, a Trumpian provocateur, to stay out of politics.</p><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0">Second, caucuses are less likely than primaries to reveal how voters will act in November because fewer people take part. Queuing for hours in churches and schools requires more time from voters than posting a ballot. Because Nevada is one of just six states that will in effect decide the presidential election, the opinions of voters there have outsize importance.</p><p data-component="paragraph" class="css-4owh87 e1b3hf9s0">Mr Trump encouraged Nevadans to caucus during his rally. But in his remarks he revealed the vote’s irrelevance. “Don’t waste your time on primary,” he urged. “Waste all of your time on caucus.”<span class="ufinish">■</span></p></div></section><div class="css-6esv74 e14gikav1"><h3 class="css-tu4cp8 e14gikav0">Explore more</h3><nav aria-labelledby="article-tags"><a class="ds-emphasised-link ds-emphasised-link--secondary" href="/topics/united-states" data-analytics="tags:united_states"><span>United States</span></a><a class="ds-emphasised-link ds-emphasised-link--secondary" href="/topics/elections" data-analytics="tags:elections"><span>Elections</span></a></nav></div><div class="css-17w1oq6 e13p72us0"><p class="css-1i4m1tx eikojtn0">This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline "Fear and voting in Las Vegas"</p></div><div class="css-dv5w6c e1tda7ck0"><div class="css-19gx9y0 ejfltsf0"><div class="css-15sn8g1 eygoqsu0"><div><div class="css-9mn5vp eygoqsu0"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

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The state is holding both a caucus and a primary. Voters are confused{ai:summary}<p>#politics</p><p>Nevada's Republican primary has become a confusing mess, with voters having to choose between a state-run primary and a caucus. The state legislature's decision to replace caucuses with primaries was meant to increase Nevada's importance in presidential elections, but the Republican Party revolted and organized a caucus instead. This has resulted in two votes in three days and widespread confusion among voters.</p>