The Nevada Rules

Nevada Democrats rolled the dice and struck it rich, winning a coveted early spot on the 2008 delegate-selection calendar, between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. the national party's choice of Nevada for the plum position was seen as a bow to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose political clout offset his home state's reputation as a mecca for casino gamblers. Nevada's supporters also trumpet the state's diversity, with its burgeoning Hispanic population and strong labor influence.

The later movement of other states closer and closer to New Year's Day may mean that in the end Nevada will not vote second. But both parties in the Silver State will hold caucuses Jan. 19, early enough to have won the attention of presidential candidates. Nevada Democrats have made their event as voter-friendly as possible to encourage voter turnout, which tends to be much lower for caucuses than for primaries. They plan to implement at-large precincts so that shift workers can more readily participate on Jan. 19. They will also offer for election more than 10,000 county delegate slots (The next stage of the caucus process). Meanwhile, to give their event some national currency, Nevada Republicans plan to take a nonbinding presidential preference vote in conjunction with their caucuses.

Participation in the GOP precinct caucuses is limited to registered Republicans. Democrats allow other voters to join their party on caucus day. As of August 2007, there were 1,034,793 active registered voters in Nevada—416,762 Democrats, 413,556 Republicans, and 204,475 independent and third-party voters.