Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Maine Democrats Plan for Sunday, March 6 Caucuses in 2016

The Maine Democratic Party at the end of March made available to the public its draft 2016 delegate selection plan.1 This further clarifies where the caucuses states will fall on the 2016 Democratic presidential primary calendar. Though the method of delegate allocation remains unsettled in the plan, the Sunday, March 6 date for municipal caucuses seems firmer.

Actually, the March 6 is the same date as the state party's "first determining step" (county caucuses) in 2012. The party held municipal caucuses primarily on February 26, but there was no binding presidential preference vote that took place. It would have been out of compliance with national party rules. Though it was the second step in the caucuses/convention process, the March 6 county caucuses were the stage where the presidential preference vote took place.

Sunday caucuses are not unusual for Maine Democrats. The party last caucused on Sunday during the 2008 cycle.


NOTE: FHQ will pencil these dates in on the 2016 presidential primary calendar, but please note that the plans are not finalized and are still subject to change. With very few exceptions, though, the dates in the 2012 draft plans for caucuses states did not change.

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1 The above link is to the plan on the Idaho Democratic Party site. FHQ will also keep a version of the plan here.


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