The Republican Party of Kentucky has made a change to Kentucky Presidential politics this year.
A Republican Presidential Caucus will be conducted on Saturday, March 5. The caucus location in Lewis County will be at the Lewis County Middle School from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
“Kentucky Republicans will finally have a say about who our presidential nominee will be,” said Ben Harrison, Chairman of the Lewis County Republican Party.
“This election is very important as we must choose a candidate with conservative credentials that can beat the liberal Obama-Clinton-Sanders Democratic machine,” Harrison added.
Harrison said the caucus site will be set up much like a regular election.
“If you are a registered Republican in Lewis County, you will go to the middle school and vote your preference for a Republican nominee for president,” Harrison said.
Participants in the caucus must have been registered Republicans by December 31, 2015. The choice for a Republican nominee for president will be the only office on the ballot.
Harrison said there will be a few differences from a regular election.
“Candidates may send representatives to the caucus site to talk to voters about their candidates,” he said.
“The Lewis County Republican Party intends to make this a party building effort as well. We will have an area where you can sit down, have a cup of coffee, and talk to your fellow Lewis Countians about presidential politics,” he said.
“We encourage all registered Republicans to come in, socialize for a bit, and then go vote,” he added.
When voters are ready to cast their vote by secret ballot, the caucus goers will move to the balloting area.
Voters will present identification to a trained Caucus official, who will check their name on the voter roster. Voters will sign in, just like they would during a typical election, and will be handed a ballot.
After marking their selection, they will insert their ballot into a ballot box.
Republican presidential candidates who have field for the March 5 Caucus in Kentucky are Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, John Kasich, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, and Mike Huckabee.
Kentucky’s Republican delegates will be allocated proportionately among the delegates as described in the Republican Party of Kentucky rules. Specifically, each candidate who receives at least five percent of the total votes cast at the caucus shall be awarded a pro-rata portion of the authorized delegate vote for the Kentucky Republican Party at the Republican National Convention.
If you applied for an absentee ballot, your completed ballot must be received at the state party headquarters in Frankfort by 5:00 p.m. Friday, March 4.
A voter becomes ineligible to vote in person at any caucus location once an absentee ballot has been mailed to the voter.
For more information about the March 5 Caucus you may email the Lewis County Republican Party at lcgop@gmail.com or visit www.rpk.org/caucus.