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Shenanigans widely reported at Nevada GOP caucuses

Everything's fine, the GOP says.

 

Dell Cameron

Tech

Posted on Feb 24, 2016   Updated on May 27, 2021, 4:26 am CDT

It’s routine, perhaps healthy, for any election to receive its fair share of complaints, but Tuesday night’s Nevada caucus was something extra special.

Within an hour of operation, numerous voters in the Battle Born state took to social media to describe the shenanigans unfolding before them. While some showed up to find no one available to distribute ballots or tally votes, others were more puzzled to have their votes counted by poll workers decked out in Donald Trump campaign flair.

Many of the sites were simply overwhelmed and underprepared for the huge crowds.

https://twitter.com/elainaplott/status/702323423901458432

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In other cases, outright fraud was alleged by political reporters or caucus goers at polling locations. Either ballots were being handled in unsuitable ways, or poll workers charged with checking voters’ IDs seemed less than competent at performing the task.

Despite these and other concerns, the Republican Party of Nevada sought to assuage worried voters with a statement denying receipt any “official reports of voting irregularities or violations.” Neither the Republican Party of Nevada, nor any of its caucus officials, could be reached by phone. A request for comment via email was not returned in time for publication.

A number of Republicans who recently threw in the towel may be pleasantly surprised to find they’ve been conscripted in Nevada. A photo of a ballot shared online by BBC reporter Ashley Semlar included such names as Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, and Chris Christie—all of whom retired from the 2016 election.

As for the photos on Twitter of vote-counters donning Donald Trump gear, the GOP issued a statement saying it wasn’t against the caucus rules, which the GOP itself dictates. 

Update 11:35pm CT, Feb. 23: Donald Trump has won the Nevada caucus.

Photo via Felipe Valduga/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

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*First Published: Feb 24, 2016, 2:01 am CST