The Nevada Democratic caucuses: How do they work?
Democrats in Nevada will head to caucus sites across the state Saturday afternoon in the third contest of the 2016 cycle. If you're planning on watching the results come in, here's the CBS News guide for what you need to know:
Who's caucusing?
Just the Democrats. The state's Republican caucuses will be held separately on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
How does it work?
Similar to the Iowa caucuses, Democratic caucus-goers in Nevada show up to the voting location and, once things get started, move to different sides of the room to indicate which candidate they're supporting. There are multiple rounds, and in between, voters can make their case for their respective candidates to try and get others to switch sides and join them. (Since there are only two Democratic candidates, however, it's unlikely the voting will go into many rounds this year.)
How many delegates are at stake, and how are they apportioned?
Nevada has 43 delegates total, 23 of which will be up for grabs on Saturday. Those delegates are awarded based proportionally on the vote totals in each congressional district. Of the remaining 20 delegates, eight are unpledged superdelegates (who can choose their own candidate) and 12 are pledged delegates that will be chosen at the state's convention in May.
How many people are expected to show up?
That's a tough question to answer. Since Nevada uses a caucus system, turnout is typically far lower than in primary states: even in 2008, which was a highly competitive year for Democrats, about 117,000 people turned up to caucus--just under 30 percent of registered Democrats at the time. Another big question mark is what the minority turnout looks like: Nevada's population is about 28 percent Latino and 9 percent African American. In 2008, Latinos made up 15 percent of all Democratic caucus-goers, as did African Americans.
What results do political experts foresee?
Nevada was long viewed as a virtual lock for Clinton, and considered one of a handful of states in the Clinton "firewall" that would theoretically help her solidify a lead over Sanders heading into Super Tuesday. But Sanders has poured manpower and resources into the state in recent weeks -- he has more than 100 staffers on the ground -- and observers definitely say the late investments are making a difference. At this point, the race is expected to be close.
Still, it's tough to predict the winner in Nevada for a handful of reasons. Fluctuations in turnout could have a big effect on the ultimate result, especially changes in turnout among Latinos or African Americans.
And the state is notoriously hard to poll, meaning the little polling that's been done isn't necessarily a great gauge of the eventual outcome. There are a handful of reasons for this -- a highly transient population in the Las Vegas area, for example, and the many workers who work odd hours make it tough to get an accurate picture of what's going on there. Plus, compared with Iowa and New Hampshire, which have already voted, there's been very little polling in Nevada.
The most recent poll of the race, from CNN/ORC on Wednesday, found the contest to be within the margin of error: Clinton took 48 percent and Sanders took 47 percent in the survey.