How will we know who won?
Assuming all goes smoothly, we will learn the number of county delegates each candidate won, and the projected number of national delegates that a candidate will therefore ultimately receive. The person with the greatest number of projected national delegates is traditionally considered the winner of the caucuses.
For example, in 2016, Hillary Clinton received 6,316 county delegates and 20 national delegates. Bernie Sanders received 5,678 county delegates and 15 national delegates, so Clinton was considered the winner.
Polling shows Bernie Sanders is in the lead in Nevada
A February 14 poll of 413 likely caucus goers, conducted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and AARP, found Sanders leading with 25% of support. Former vice president Joe Biden recieved 18% support, Senator Elizabeth Warren received 15% support, and billionaire Tom Steyer had 11% support.
But Democrats are starting to worry about reporting results
After the Iowa app debacle, Democrats are...well, they're freaking out. The state party scrapped plans to use an app to report caucus results, but volunteers and campaigns have been confused by the process to replace it.
Politico reported that Nevada Democrats had purchased iPads for caucus site volunteers to use, and that results would be entered via Google Forms to transmit to the state party.
Unnamed volunteers told Politico that they had not been properly briefed on using the iPads or reporting system during their training. During one training, "There were old ladies looking at me like, 'Oh, we're going to have iPads,'" a volunteer told Politico.
FYI, there are no Republican caucuses this year
The Republican Party opted not to hold a caucus this year because President Donald Trump is the presumptive party nominee. While it would save the state party time and money, it forfeits a chance for party building, said Robert Lang, a professor of public policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"Caucuses are a great way to know, 'who are the most energized voters?'" Lang said. "And you don't get that if you don't hold one."
