Las Vegas (AFP) – The Gambling Never Stops In Las Vegas
It was interesting that for a few hours last Saturday, the popular casinos' croupiers, cooks, and maids were allowed an extended break from their duties to exercise their voting rights in Nevada's major Democratic nomination exercise.
At the prestigious Bellagio Hotel, where players traditionally play new online slots - the biggest of seven caucus sites on the world-famous Las Vegas Strip -- over 120 workers were spotted pleasantly filed into a massive ballroom adorned with ornate golden chandeliers, converted especially for the day.
Laura Flores, who is a maid, mentioned that she had been offered an additional hour off at lunch to cast her vote and was still unsure whom to vote in favor of in the polls. At the crowd registration desk, as Laura Flores signs in, she says that It's fun, and she was going to see what people had to say inside.
Caucus Voting Process
The caucus process is not like what people from other parts of the world may be used to as it allows attendees an opportunity to re-cast their votes if they felt that their first candidate has fallen short of a threshold -- which means it can take several hours.
Flores mentioned that she wasn't sure what was going to happen, but she had hoped that it'd be a swift process. Needless to say, Flores wasn't prepared for the time she must have spent. Nevada's caucus system is one that requires a more significant time investment than a simple secret vote, as is the case in most other states, has not been embraced by all of the busy employees at the Strip.
According to 52 years old Anne Olah, who works as a Bellagio floral designer, the process just seemed chaotic and ridiculous to her. Further stating that it would have been a lot easier if they only had a primary.
When things turn up like this, it wouldn’t be strange if politicians bribe voters with online casino offers!!
Why Were Caucases Established?
The "Strip caucuses" were created in a bid to tackle the unusual challenges birthed by the city's round-the-clock economy. Anyone who worked a shift within 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) of a Strip caucus location during the vote was eligible to take part in the process. Early voting was also initiated this year. Almost 75,000 voters selected candidates earlier in the week.
According to Jon Summers, the senior advisor to the Nevada Democratic Party, in a statement to, he said that in a bid to avoid the awkwardness of the Iowa caucus, which depended on a faulty computer app to provide results, Nevada had adopted an extremely low-tech" system. And these is obvious, considering that people are voting next to slot games!
Attendance was manually tallied. Officials were meant to telephone in outcome from individual location, backed up with pictures of the used paper count sheets.
The party shared iPads for the caucus workers to include the early votes to those who voted in person at caucus locations, and to cumulate the minimum total votes that a candidate requires to remain "viable." Olah says she'll be voting for Elizabeth (Warren) first, and if she had to change, she'd go for Tom (Steyer).
Conclusively, Olah pointed out that It's her responsibility, and she needed to do it at the time. Adding that "It's like jury duty."
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