Dateline: March 4, 2008

Corrected polling locations

Democratic polling and caucus locations are as follows: Boxes 101 & 102 - Howardwick City Hall; Box 201 - Donley County Courthouse; Box 301 & 303 - Hedley Lions Den; and Box 401 - Burton Memorial Library (voting) and Donley County District Courtroom (caucusing).

Republican polling locations are: Box 101 - Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center; Box 102 – Howardwick First Baptist Church; Box 201 - Commissioner's Courtroom, Donley County Courthouse, Box 301 – Church of Christ Family Life Center; Box 302 – Hedley Senior Citizens Center; and Box 401 – Church of Christ Family Life Center.

Check your voter’s registration card to determine which precinct box you vote in, and see local election results in next week’s edition of the Enterprise.

Democrats and Republicans will head to the polls Tuesday to select their candidates for the November general election.

Voters can cast ballots in either the Democratic or the Republican primary but not both. Citizens who do cast ballots will also be entitled to attend the county convention or precinct caucus of the party they voted with.

Several local candidates are on the ballots, but only one race is contested on the party level. Donley County Pct. 3&4 Constable Tony Sellers is being challenged by Ralph Graves on the Democratic ticket.

Other candidates on the Democratic ballot are Pct. 1 Commissioner Ernest Johnston, Sheriff Butch Blackburn, Pct. 1&2 Justice of the Peace Connie Havens, Pct. 3 commissioner candidate Henry Stephens, and district attorney candidate Luke Inman of Wellington.

Candidates on the Republican ballot include Pct. 3 Commissioner Andy Wheatley, Pct. 1 commissioner candidate Mark White, tax assessor/collector candidate Linda Crump, and district judge candidate Stuart Messer.

On the Democratic side, County Chair Jean Taylor says two thirds of the state’s delegates to the national convention will be selected based on the popular vote. One third will be selected by caucus votes.

Democratic voters will gather in precinct caucuses at 7:15 p.m. next Tuesday to choose delegates to the county convention. Those delegates will be chosen based on presidential preference. To attend the caucus, a voter must have voted in the Democratic primary and have their voter’s registration card stamped “Democratic” or have a card given to them by the election judge.

Democratic primary caucus locations are listed further down in this article. Delegates chosen at next Tuesday’s caucuses will meet in a Democratic County Convention at the Courthouse on March 29 at 10 a.m. to select delegates to the June 6-7, 2008, state convention in Austin. These delegates will also be chosen by presidential preference.

Donley County Democrats will send two delegates to Austin, one chosen at the caucus and the other the local party chair. At the state convention, presidential candidate delegates will be chosen, and three delegates will be selected from the 28th Senatorial District to go on to the national convention.

On the Republican side, voters who cast ballots in that party’s primary will hold a convention next Tuesday night in the Commissioners’ Courtroom of the Donley County Courthouse at 7:30 to choose two delegates to the state GOP convention, which will be held in Houston June 12-14.

Early balloting for the primaries continues at the Donley County Courthouse Annex through Friday, February 29. Votes in next Tuesday’s primaries can be cast from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.