The Green Papers: Election 2000 
 
Democratic PartyWashington Democrat
Non-Binding Primary: Tuesday, February 29, 2000
Precinct Caucuses: Tuesday, March 7, 2000
County Conventions: Saturday, April 22, 2000
Legislative District Caucuses: Saturday, April 29, 2000
Congressional District Caucuses: Saturday, June 3, 2000
State Convention: Saturday, June 10 - Sunday, June 11, 2000
Popular VoteDelegate Votes
Floor VoteHard Total
Gore, Al  202,456  68%   94.  100%   61.   65%
Bradley, Bill  93,375  31%         14.   15%
Uncommitted                19.   20%
LaRouche, Lyndon  1,170   0%            
Total  297,001 100%   94.  100%   94.  100%
Voter Eligibility: Open Caucus, Polls Close at 8 PM PST (0400 UTC)
Delegate Selection: Advisory Primary

94 total delegate votes - 49 district / 16 at-large; 10 Pledged PLEOs; 17 Unpledged PLEOs; 2 Unpledged add-ons

Last modified Tuesday, December 26, 2000
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30 April 2000: Unpledged delegate preference update: Gore 16, Bradley 0. Unpledged delegates appear in the "Soft Unpledged" field.

18 March 2000: Unpledged delegate preference update: Gore 14, Bradley 0. Unpledged delegates appear in the "Soft Unpledged" field.

Bill Bradley, having withdrawn from the campaign, is no longer entitled to receive At-Large and unpledged PLEO delegates (rule 9.C). The 5 At-Large and 3 unpledged PLEO delegates originally assigned to Bradley have been reassigned to Gore in our "Soft Pledged". These are only estimates - no delegates are actually chosen until 3 June 2000.

Tuesday 29 February 2000: Today's state run primary has no effect whatsoever on delegate allocation. The popular vote show above is based on official returns from all ballots cast by REGISTERED DEMOCRATS the open primary. (Democratic Party Rule 10A requires that all states- with the exception of Iowa and New Hampshire- not begin their delegate selection procedures until on or after Tuesday 7 March 2000).

Tuesday 7 March 2000: With 100% of the caucuses reporting, Gore won 5356 caucus delegates, Bradley won 2209, and 267 are uncommitted.

Here's how we roughly estimate the delegate count:

  1. A candidate must receive 15% or more of the total popular vote to qualify for delegates. Discard those votes cast for candidates who do not qualify.
  2. Allocate Congressional District delegates from the qualified vote in each district. Allocate Pledged PLEO and At-Large delegates using the statewide qualified vote.
  3. In each jurisdiction:
    1. Total qualified vote = total votes cast for the qualifying candidates in the jurisdiction.
    2. Allocation = (delegates for the jurisdiction) × (candidate's popular vote) ÷ (total qualified vote).
    3. Assign each candidate the WHOLE NUMBER of delegates.
    4. If delegates remain, allocate each of the remaining delegates to those candidates with the LARGEST REMAINDERS.

ContestGoreBradley
 VoteDelVote%DelVote%Del
CD7,565495,35670.800%352,20929.200%14
At-Large7,565165,35670.800%112,20929.200%5
PLEO7,565105,35670.800%72,20929.200%3
Delegates 75  53  22

Tuesday 7 March 2000: Democratic Party Caucuses meet in each precinct. Each Precinct Caucus chooses delegates to either County Conventions or Legislative District Caucuses based on presidential preference.

  • "The Precinct Caucus chooses the precinct's delegates to either the Democratic Convention of the county in which the precinct is located (if the County is wholly within one Legislative District) or the Democratic Caucus of the legislative district in which the precinct is located (if parts of two or more Counties are part of the same Legislative District OR if there is more than one Legislative District in a County). Such County or Legislative District delegates from the precinct are allocated to presidential contenders in proportion to the percentage of the support each candidate received at the Precinct Caucus- a mandatory 15 percent threshold being required for such allocation."

Saturday 22 April 2000: Democratic County Conventions convene in each county wholly within a legislative district. Each County Convention chooses delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention based on presidential preference.

  • "These County Conventions choose the county's delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention. Such State Convention delegates from the county are to be allocated to presidential contenders in proportion to the percentage of the support each candidate received at the County Convention- a mandatory 15 percent threshold being required for such allocation."

Saturday 29 April 2000: Democratic Legislative District Caucuses convene in each county NOT wholly within a legislative district. Each Legislative District Caucus chooses delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention based on presidential preference.

  • "These Legislative District Caucuses choose the legislative district's delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention. Such State Convention delegates from the legislative district are to be allocated to presidential contenders in proportion to the percentage of the support each candidate received at the Legislative District Caucus- a mandatory 15 percent threshold being required for such allocation."

Saturday 3 June 2000: Democratic Congressional District Caucuses convene for each congressional district. Each Congressional District Caucus chooses the district delegates to the Democratic National Convention based on presidential preference.

  • "Congressional District Caucuses- made up of the State Convention delegates from each county and/or legislative district within a given congressional district- choose Washington's 49 district delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Such district National Convention delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders in proportion to the percentage of the support each candidate received at the Congressional District Caucus- a mandatory 15 percent threshold being required for such allocation."

Saturday 10 June through Sunday 11 June 2000: The Washington State Democratic Convention convenes in Spokane. The State Convention chooses the remaining 26 Pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

  • "The Washington State Convention chooses 16 at-large and 10 Pledged PLEO delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Such remaining Pledged National Convention delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders in proportion to the percentage of the support each candidate received at the State Convention- a mandatory 15 percent threshold being required for such allocation."
  • Sunday 11 June 2000, the "Washington Democratic Delegate Election Committee"- which simply consists of the district-level National Convention delegates already selected eight days earlier (on 3 June 2000)- will meet (apparently in coordination with the Washington State Democratic Convention) and actually choose the at-large and Pledged PLEO delegates.

The remainder of Washington's 94 National Convention delegates consist of 17 Unpledged PLEOs and 2 Unpledged "add-on"s; these 19 delegates will go to the Democratic National Convention officially "Unpledged".

The breakdown of unpledged delegates is:

  • 9 Democratic National Committee members
  • 6 Members of Congress (1 Senator, 5 Representatives)
  • 1 Governor
  • 1 Distinguished Party Leader (former Speaker of the House Tom Foley)
  • 2 add-ons

Washington has 39 counties and 9 congressional districts: 31 counties are wholly within a given congressional district; 8 counties are divided among more than one congressional district.

UNDIVIDED COUNTIES: (those wholly within one congressional district)

  • CD # 2: Island, San Juan, Skagit and Whatcom
  • CD # 3: Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Pacific, Skamania and Wahkiakum
  • CD # 4: Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittitas, Okanogan and Yakima
  • CD # 5: Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla and Whitman
  • CD # 6: Clallam, Jefferson and Mason

DIVIDED COUNTIES: (those split between more than one congressional district)

  • Adams: CDs 4 and 5
  • Grays Harbor: CDs 5 and 6
  • King: CDs 1, 7, 8 and 9
  • Kitsap: CDs 1 and 6
  • Klickitat: CDs 3 and 4
  • Pierce: CDs 6, 8 and 9
  • Snohomish: CDs 1 and 2
  • Thurston: CDs 3 and 9

CD # 7 is wholly within King County

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Richard E. Berg-Andersson, Research and Commentary, E-Mail:
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