2020 North Dakota Democratic presidential caucuses explained

Election Name:2020 North Dakota Democratic presidential caucuses
Country:North Dakota
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2016 North Dakota Democratic presidential caucuses
Previous Year:2016
Next Election:2024 North Dakota Democratic presidential primary
Next Year:2024
Election Date:March 10, 2020
Outgoing Members:MO
Elected Members:WA
Votes For Election:18 delegates (14 pledged, 4 unpledged)
to the Democratic National Convention
The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote
Candidate1:Bernie Sanders
Color1:228b22
Home State1:Vermont
Delegate Count1:8
Popular Vote1:7,682
Percentage1:52.8%
Candidate2:Joe Biden
Color2:224192
Home State2:Delaware
Delegate Count2:6
Popular Vote2:5,742
Percentage2:39.5%

The 2020 North Dakota Democratic presidential caucuses took place on March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries and caucuses for the 2020 presidential election. While the contest has in effect been a party-run open primary for the first time in North Dakota's history, the state party retained the traditional caucus name, classifying it as a firehouse caucus. The state awarded 18 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 14 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the election.

Senator Bernie Sanders decisively won the caucuses with almost 53% of the vote and 8 delegates over former vice president Joe Biden who won almost 40% and 6 delegates, as North Dakota was the only state on that day and the last state of the primary season to vote in favor of Sanders.

Procedure

North Dakota was one of six states (along with Democrats Abroad) which held primaries on March 10, 2020, one week after Super Tuesday.[1] On March 13, 2019, the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party released its draft delegate selection plan, which moved away from the previous caucus system and called for the creation, in effect, of a party-run primary referred to by the party as a "firehouse caucus".[2] The date was also moved back from June in 2016 to a more relevant date in March.

Voting by mail began on January 20, 2020, and continued through March 5.[3] On March 10, polls opened and closed simultaneously throughout the state, with in-person voting through a ballot system taking place between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. in the Central Time Zone and from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. within the Mountain Time Zone at firehouse caucus locations across the state. Global Election Services (GES), a subsidiary of publicly traded Global Arena Holding, was retained to administer the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Presidential Primary election. In the open caucuses, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15 percent statewide in order to be considered viable. The 14 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the firehouse caucus. Of these, 9 corresponded to the result of the statewide vote (coterminous with its sole congressional district) and another 2 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 3 at-large delegates, both also according to the statewide vote.[4] The March primary as part of Stage I on the primary timetable received no bonus delegates, in order to disperse the primaries between more different date clusters and keep too many states from hoarding on a March date.[5]

Following legislative district conventions between March 11 and March 14, 2020, to elect state convention delegates, the state convention met virtually between March 19 and March 21, 2020 (originally planned in Minot but cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic)[6] [7] and elected 9 national convention district delegates. Afterwards, at the meeting of the select committee on delegates on April 4, 2020, the 9 district delegates elected the 3 at-large and 2 pledged PLEO delegates for the Democratic National Convention. The delegation also included 4 unpledged PLEO delegates: 4 members of the Democratic National Committee.[4]

Pledged national
convention
delegates
Type
CD at-large9
2
At-large3
Total pledged delegates14

Candidates

The following candidates qualified for the ballot in North Dakota:[8]

Running

Withdrawn

Results

All of the withdrawn candidates had withdrawn from the race while mail-in voting had already begun.

2020 North Dakota Democratic presidential caucuses[10] ! Candidate! Votes! %! Delegates
Bernie Sanders7,68252.818
Joe Biden5,74239.476
Elizabeth Warren (withdrawn)3662.52rowspan=11
Amy Klobuchar (withdrawn)2231.53
Pete Buttigieg (withdrawn)1641.13
Michael Bloomberg (withdrawn)1130.78
Tulsi Gabbard890.61
Andrew Yang (withdrawn)200.14
Tom Steyer (withdrawn)60.04
Michael Bennet (withdrawn)30.02
John Delaney (withdrawn)30.02
Deval Patrick (withdrawn)20.01
Unsigned votes / Overvotes / Blank Votes1330.91
Total14,546100%14

Results by caucus site

Caucus site[11] CountySanders%Biden%Others%TotalMargin
FargoCass2,68265.22%1,37633.46%541.32%4,11231.76%
Grand ForksGrand Forks1,03356.20%76641.68%392.12%1,83814.52%
BismarckBurleigh1,12648.91%1,13649.35%401.74%2,302-0.44%
MinotWard52353.04%44144.73%222.23%9868.31%
WillistonWilliams15850.80%13944.69%144.51%3116.11%
JamestownStutsman15632.84%30764.63%122.53%475-31.79%|-|style="background:#7794df;" |Devils Lake|Ramsey|87|32.46%|176|65.67%|5|1.87%|268|-33.21%
Valley CityBarnes11033.13%21263.86%103.01%332-30.73%|-|style="background:#53d553;" |Dickinson|Stark|212|56.68%|152|40.64%|10|2.68%|375|16.04%|-|style="background:#53d553;" |Belcourt|Rolette|286|64.71%|146|33.03%|10|2.26%|442|31.67%|-|style="background:#53d553;" |Cannon Ball|Sioux|103|76.87%|28|20.90%|3|2.23%|134|55.97%|-|style="background:#53d553;" |New Town|Mountrail|164|62.84%|94|36.02%|3|1.14%|261|26.82%|-|style="background:#7794df;" |Wahpeton|Richland|111|38.81%|168|58.74%|7|2.45%|286|-19.93%|-|style="background:#53d553;" |Fort Totten|Benson|53|67.95%|21|26.92%|4|5.13%|78|41.03%|-|style="background:#53d553;" |Vote By Mail| -|878|39.66%|580|26.20%|756|34.14%|2,214|13.46%|}

See also

  • 2020 North Dakota Republican presidential caucuses

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Putnam. Josh. The 2020 Presidential Primary Calendar. Frontloading HQ. May 31, 2016. June 23, 2019.
  2. Web site: Putnam. Josh. North Dakota Democrats Plan to Hold March 10 Firehouse Caucuses. Frontloading HQ. March 13, 2019. June 23, 2019.
  3. Web site: Presidential Primary in ND . North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party . January 18, 2020.
  4. Web site: North Dakota Democratic Delegation 2020. The Green Papers. May 3, 2019. June 23, 2019.
  5. Web site: Democratic Timing Penalties and Bonuses. The Green Papers. November 24, 2021. March 19, 2022.
  6. Web site: North Dakota coronavirus news, March 12: Democrats cancel state convention. The Bismarck Tribune. March 20, 2020. March 25, 2020.
  7. Web site: Minot to host 2022 Democratic-NPL state convention. kfyrtv.com. May 11, 2021. October 17, 2022.
  8. Web site: ND Democrats can vote in presidential primary starting next week . The Dickinson Press . January 16, 2020. March 31, 2022.
  9. https://swayable.com/insights/democratic-primaries-2020-mini-tuesday-polling Swayable
  10. Web site: 2020 Democratic Caucus Results . North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party . June 11, 2020 . en-us . October 30, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201030014449/https://demnpl.com/2020-caucus-results/ . dead .
  11. Web site: North Dakota Elections Results. 2020-03-10. AP. 2020-03-19.