RCV Procedures 2020

Posted on February 10, 2020 by - 2020, News

  1. Ballot preparation and distribution
    1. By Jan. 31, the WDP shall obtain from the Secretary of State’s office a list of all voters registered as Democrats within the state.
    2. The WDP will then mail to all people on the official list:
      1. A copy of the official ballot
      2. A “return envelope” pre-printed with the address to which the ballot should be returned, and with a spot for the voter to place his or her name and return address
      3. Instructions on how to vote
  2. How to Vote
    1. To receive a ballot in the mail, voters need to be registered Democrats by March 10, 2020.
    2. To be eligible to vote on March 28th or April 4th, voters need to be registered as Democrats by March 20, 2020.
    3. All votes must be on an official paper ballot prepared by the WDP.
    4. Voter ranks his/her first five choices, in descending order of preference, by filling in bubble on ballot corresponding to the rank the voter chooses for each preference.
    5. Voter shall not place any markings on the ballot that could be used to identify who filled out the ballot.
    6. Johnson County Democrats may deliver their ballots to the Johnson County Democrats by any of the means listed below
  3. Ballot submission (four ways to deliver ballot)
    1. Mail to designated central statewide location (must be postmarked no later than March 20 and received no later than March 28)
      1. Voter places ballot inside the provided return envelope addressed to the central statewide location designated by the WDP.
      2. Voter writes the name of the registered voter and the voter’s registered address as the return address on the “return envelope,” then places in US Mail. The return envelope will be pre-printed with business reply postage.
      3. The outer return envelope contains a certification, to be signed by the voter, that the voter is a registered Democrat and that the voter has not previously voted in this election.
      4. ONLY ONE BALLOT PER ENVELOPE. If there are two or more registered voters at the registered address, each individual voter must use a separate outer envelope marked with the name of the individual voter and containing the certification required in the previous paragraph.
    2. Drop off at one of two designated Voting Centers within the Johnson County on March 28
      1. JC Dems officials will be available at the two Voting Centers on March 28, 2020 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
      2. Drop-off Voting Centers:
        1. Red Wall Community Center, Room 120. 210 Center Street Kaycee, WY 82639
        2. Johnson County Library, Small Conference Room. 171 N Adams Ave, Buffalo, WY 82834
      3. JC Dems officials shall verify that persons delivering ballots in person are registered Democrats according to the official list received from the Secretary of State, by checking the statewide central voting list (available electronically). If the person delivering the ballot is listed as a registered Democrat and has not previously voted, the ballot shall be accepted.
      4. The JC Dems voting officials shall note on the statewide electronic voting list that the persons delivering ballots have voted.
      5. Individuals may deliver ballots for spouses, children, friends, or any other persons.
      6. Completed ballots must be submitted inside a blank envelope or provided privacy sleeve.
      7. The envelopes SHALL NOT BE OPENED, but shall be placed inside the official County ballot pouch or box.
      8. At the conclusion of the Voting Center hours, the voting pouch containing all ballots received shall be sealed.
      9. All ballots received on March 28 will be physically transported to the pre-determined central location for tabulation along with the mail in votes within 24 hours after the close of the Early Voting Centers. The WDP nor its vendors shall not disclose the tally of mail-in-votes to any candidate, candidate committee until it releases the final tally of all votes cast on Caucus Day.
    3. Drop off at JC Dems caucus on April 4
      1. Voters may deliver completed ballots from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. on April 4, by placing their completed ballots in an unmarked envelope or provided privacy sleeve.
      2. Ballot and Credentials Committee (BCC) workers at the County Convention will verify that the person delivering the ballot is a registered Wyoming voter by checking the electronic voter list maintained by the WDP vendor. They will also verify that the person presenting the ballot has not yet voted.
      3. Upon verification of the registration and voting status of the voter, the BCC worker shall accept the ballot, write “VALIDATED” on the envelope containing the ballot, and place it in the Same-Day Early Vote Ballot Box or Pouch.
      4. The Same-Day Early Vote Ballot Box or Pouch shall then be taken to the Caucus Counting Center, and counted pursuant to the procedures in Part V, below.
      5. No Early-Vote ballot shall be received at the County Caucus after 11 a.m.
    4. Vote at the conclusion of the county caucus on April 4, 2020
      1. Voters who wish to participate in the caucus process before voting shall register at the caucus no later than 10:55 a.m. and indicate that they wish to vote after the caucus.
      2. The county officials will then check to see if the voter has previously voted by mail, in-person at a Voting Center, or has dropped off a ballot at the caucus, by checking the central electronic voting database.
      3. If the voter has not previously voted, the voter will be given a caucus day ballot containing all of the same candidates as the early vote ballot.
      4. The debate/discussion phase of the JC Dems County Caucus shall take place between 11:05 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. on April 4, 2020.
      5. At the conclusion of, or before, the debate/discussion portion of the county caucus, attendees shall mark their CAUCUS BALLOT and deposit it in the Same-Day Caucus Vote Ballot Box or Pouch.
      6. The JC Dems officials running the county caucus shall take steps to insure that all those who have picked up CAUCUS BALLOTS have a fair opportunity to mark their ballots and place them in the Same-Day Caucus Vote Ballot Box or Pouch. All caucus voting must have concluded by 11:55 a.m. on April 4.
      7. Once all of the ballots have been collected, the ballot box or pouch shall be taken to the Caucus Counting Center to be counted. Any ballots contained in the Same-Day Caucus Vote Ballot Box which are determined not to be CAUCUS BALLOTS shall be invalidated and not counted.
  4. Early Vote counting
    1. All mail-in ballots shall be mailed to the Central Counting Center in Cheyenne, where the voting vendor will match the name and return address on the outer envelope to the official list of registered voters, stored electronically.
    2. If the name matches the official list of registered voters, the ballot will be accepted AND the record for that voter on the official list of voters will be marked as having voted.
    3. All ballots shall be pre-printed with the name of the County where the vote is to be cast.
    4. All accepted (i.e. “valid”) ballots shall be stored in a secure location, pending the official early vote count.
    5. Ballots delivered to Early Voting Centers shall be scanned by JC Dems party officials at the Early Voting Center and sent to the Central Counting Center via a secure electronic system. Those ballots will be added to the mail-in ballots to be counted.
    6. The combination of mail-in ballots and Early Voting Center ballots shall be designated “Early Votes.”
    7. The Early Votes shall be scanned and tabulated using the vendor’s ranked-choice voting system.
  5. Caucus Day Ballot count and validation
    1. JC Dems will designate, inside the Caucus location, a separate room or area as the Caucus Counting Center.
    2. The JC Dems Caucus location is the Buffalo Senior Center. 671 W Fetterman St, Buffalo, WY 82834.
    3. Starting no later than 11:05 a.m. on April 4, county party workers, in the Caucus Counting Center, shall open the privacy sleeves for all ballots in the Same Day Early Vote Ballot Box, and remove all ballots contained within those sleeves.
    4. The Same Day Early Vote ballots shall then be scanned using the scanning equipment provided by Clear Ballot. The files generated by this scanning process shall then be sent to the Central Counting Center, where they will be processed and added to the Early Vote count.
    5. After the conclusion of the debate/discussion phase of the County Caucus, and after all attendees at the caucus have filled out their ballots and placed them in the ballot box, the Same-Day Caucus Ballot Box shall be delivered to the Caucus Counting Center.
    6. All of the ballots found in the Same-Day Caucus Ballot Box shall then be scanned and uploaded via secured and encrypted transmission protocols to the predetermined location. The files generated by this procedure shall then be processed and added to the Early Vote count. The scanning and sending will be completed no later than 1 p.m.
  6. Application of Ranked Choice Voting
    1. The Ranked Choice Vote tally shall be conducted using all of the Early Vote and Same Day Vote ballots received at the Central Counting Center. The tally shall be conducted by the Clear Ballot ranked choice voting computer program.
    2. WDP’s vendor will report county-specific results back to each County by 2 p.m. on caucus day. The report shall include:
      1. A tally of how many votes were received in that county for each Presidential candidate on the ballot.
      2. A report of which candidates met the Viability Threshold.
      3. The calculation of how many delegates to the State Convention may be pledged to each candidate meeting the Viability Threshold, following the procedure specified in Part VII below.
  7. Assignment of delegates to the State Convention
    1. At the conclusion of voting, WDP’s vendor shall determine which candidates have met the Viability Threshold in each County.
    2. The total number of votes cast for each candidate meeting the Viability Threshold shall then be divided by the total number of valid ballots in each county. The result shall be reported to three decimal places, and that number shall be called the Candidate Percentage.
    3. The Candidate Percentage shall then be multiplied times the number of delegates to the State Convention that the county has been allocated by the WDP. All results shall be then rounded up or down to the nearest integer. That result shall be the Presumptive Delegate Count for each candidate. (Note: if the Presumptive Delegate Count has been rounded down to zero because the product of the previous operation resulted in a number less than .500, that candidate shall not be awarded any delegates to the State Convention.)
    4. If, due to rounding, the total Presumptive Delegate Count for all candidates adds up to more (or fewer) delegates than were assigned to the county by the WDP, the county shall award half delegates to adjust the Presumptive Delegate Count to the correct number of delegates allocated to each county. If the Presumptive Delegate Count is higher than the number of delegates allocated, the two lowest-ranked delegates shall lose half a delegate each to reduce the total number to the correct amount. If, however, the Presumptive Delegate Count is lower than the number of delegates allocated, the two highest-ranked delegates shall each be awarded an additional half-delegate to raise the total number to the correct amount.
  8. Calculation of National Convention Delegation
    1. After all County vote tallies have been completed and reported to the individual counties, Clear Ballot will accumulate all votes from all counties into a Statewide Vote Tally, using Ranked Choice Voting procedures.
    2. The Statewide Vote Tally will then be applied to the total number of delegates allocated to Wyoming by the Democratic National Committee, pursuant to the Wyoming Delegate Selection Plan.
    3. The number of National Delegates shall then be reported to the Wyoming Democratic Party no later than 9 p.m. on April 4. The WPD shall then publicly announce the vote totals and the allocation of delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
  9. Additional rules
    1. If any national candidate withdraws from the race between the printing of the official ballots on Jan. 31 and April 4, the following procedures apply:
      1. The ballots will not be changed in any way, and voting shall proceed based on the ballot as of Jan. 31
      2. Votes cast for any candidate who has withdrawn by April 4 will be counted during the Vote Counting process as if they remained in the race.
      3. If any candidate who has withdrawn meets the Viability Threshold during the vote counting procedure, any delegates awarded to that candidate in the Assignment of Delegates procedure will be assigned to the State Convention as Undeclared or No Preference delegates, and will be free to vote at the State Convention for any candidate who remains in the race at the time of the State Convention.
    2. If a candidate appears in person at a Voting Center or the County Convention and attempts to deliver a ballot, but the official list of voters indicates that a ballot has already been received by mail or in person from that same voter, the second ballot will be rejected. Only the ballot first received by any voter will be counted.
    3. The official ballot boxes into which any ballot will be deposited shall remain in the possession at all times of a single county party official, who shall be selected by the county party.
    4. After the official vote tally has been completed on Caucus Day, WDP’s vendor shall allow each County party to pick up the paper ballots received during the Early Vote process and store them with the paper ballots filled out on Caucus Day. All ballots shall thereafter be safeguarded and counted manually in the event any candidate challenges the count.
    5. If any ballot has two or more candidates ranked equally at any level, that ballot will be deemed a spoiled ballot if a ballot is considered at that level. (Example: if a ballot’s first-ranked choice is deemed not viable, and the ballot ranks two or more candidates as co-equal Level 2 choices, the ballot will be deemed spoiled even though it was counted at Level 1.)
    6. Challenges to vote total.
      1. Any candidate which challenges the official tally shall notify the Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman. The request must be made in writing and be received no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8.
      2. Refer to the Recount Guide for further information.