Vote on March 10th! Your Primary Ballot Counts Towards Delegate Allocation!
See important info & links below on the primary voting process and how to become a Delegate to the National Convention!
The Washington state Democratic Party announced last year a widely supported change to the 2020 Presidential primary: It will use a hybrid primary / caucus system to allocate and select delegates for each Presidential candidate.
Instead of holding neighborhood precinct caucuses as done in elections past, voters will vote-by-mail in a March 10th primary for their nominee. Results will apportion the number of delegates to candidates. Any candidate that gets 15% of the vote of a Congressional District qualifies for delegates at the national convention.
After the primary vote, caucuses and conventions will be used to select which delegates will ultimately represent Washington State at the national convention in Milwaukee, July 13 – 16, 2020.
See here for WA Democrats’ 2020 Presidential Primary guide.
Interested in being a delegate? Then read on!
Anyone can run to be a Democratic delegate for Washington State, as long as you are: 1) 18 years old by November 3, 2020; and 2) you must participate as a Democrat. WA Democrats put together this simple chart outlining the process to run for delegate.
Washington State fields 107 Delegates and 7 Alternates to the Democratic National Convention, who will help vote for our Democratic Presidential Nominee. These Delegates are broken down as:
- 18 automatic delegates
- 12 party leaders & elected officials
- 58 Congressional District delegates (elected at the Congressional caucuses)
- 19 at-large delegates (elected at the Washington State Democrats convention)
- 7 alternatives (elected at the Washington State Democrats convention)
To be selected as a Delegate, you must first be elected at the Legislative District Caucus, which for the 45th LD will be held on April 26th at Redmond High School. Delegates there will be allocated accordingly to their preferred presidential candidates.
If selected to be a delegate at the LD Caucus, your next step will be to run as a Congressional District delegate at the CD caucuses on May 30th. There, LD Delegates will vote for the 58 CD Delegates, who will move on to the Democratic National Convention to represent Washington State in voting for our Democratic Presidential Nominee!
If you did not get selected to be a CD Delegate, you can still run to be a Delegate-at-Large at the Washington State Democrats Convention on June 14, 2020. If selected, you will join the Washington delegation at the National Convention!
Watch this quick recap video from WA Democrats or visit their Election Center!
You can also help the 45th LD defray caucus expenses by making a donation here! Any amount is appreciated!
Save these additional important dates!*
February 21 – Ballots are mailed to every registered voter and voting centers open. Make sure you’ve received yours by now!
March 2 – Deadline for online registrations and address updates; mailed registrations must be received by an elections official, not postmarked.
March 10 – Presidential Primary
- Last day to register or update in person at a county elections office.
- Mailed ballots must have a March 10 postmark to count.
- All returned ballots must have a valid signature.
- Ballot boxes and voting centers close at 8:00 p.m.
- After 8:00 p.m., counties begin transmission of results to the Secretary of State.
March 27 – Last day for Secretary of State to certify Presidential Primary results.
*excerpted from https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/presidential-primary-faqs-.aspx