There is an ongoing internal brouhaha over the Nevada Republican Party's proposal to allow same-day voter registration so that non-Republicans can show up at the GOP presidential caucus in February, register or change their voter registration, and vote.
That plan, approved by the party's Executive Committee last July, has now been abandoned - at least temporarily - until the party's full Central Committee can debate and vote on it at their next scheduled meeting in Las Vegas on Oct. 22. Some thoughts ...
1.) Yes, Nevada Democrats used same-day registration in 2008 to great effect in boosting their registration lead over Republicans; however, I have yet to see (a) how many new Democrats they registered leading up to and following their caucus that year and (b) how many actually registered ON THAT DAY. Those are the figures GOP party activists should be provided in order to objectively weigh whether or not this proposal is worthwhile.
2.) Republicans in Nevada have enough trouble organizing a picnic let alone organizing a coordinated effort to get GOP activists to re-register as a Democrat for one day and then change their registration back the next. The threat of Nevada Republicans pulling off such an effort to skew the Democrats' caucus in order to assist the presumed weakest presidential candidate falls somewhere between zero and none.
However, the well-oiled political machines of the SEIU, the AFL-CIO, the NSEA and all the other alphabet-soup labor unions are MORE than capable of organizing such an effort to muck up the GOP caucus. Remember, it's not paranoia when they're really out to get you!
3.) While it is certainly true that this change would be for the GOP's presidential caucus only - and that the GOP has the right to set its own rules for caucuses it's paying for - it sets a dangerous precedent and will leave the party open to legitimate charges of hypocrisy when Democrats come back in the 2013 Legislature with a proposal to allow same-day registration in regular elections ... an absolutely horrible idea, fraught with great potential for voter fraud and other shenanigans.
4.) Voter registration numbers are almost meaningless anyway. The party's real focus should be on developing a winning message and organizing a world-class get-out-the-vote effort instead.
Remember, a Republican won that special congressional election in New York a couple weeks ago in which the Democrats enjoyed a 3-1 registration advantage. So wiping out the Democrats' voter registration edge in Nevada is more about simple bragging rights than anything of value or substance.
My advice to Republicans would be to not wait until the scheduled caucus in February to persuade non-Republicans to change their affiliation. Instead, get on it RIGHT NOW and get those folks to change by the end of the year.
• Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and publisher of NevadaNewsandViews.com. He may be reached at chuck@citizenoutreach.com.
