HOW TO CAUCUS

DEMOCRATS

1. ARRIVE BY 11 A.M.: Doors will be locked at 11:30 a.m. You don't have to be a registered Democrat; you can register on the spot.

At nearly all Democratic caucus sites you don't have to show ID.*

After you sign in, some party business is conducted and the caucus chair is elected. The entire caucus process should take one to two hours.

2. THE COUNT: Based on the number of registered Democrats who live in your area, your precinct gets a certain number of delegates. To earn a delegate, or be "viable," a candidate has to have the support of a certain share of caucus-goers. Candidates get delegates in proportion to their support, but there are no half-delegates, so a threshold must be reached.

3. THE CHOICE, PART I: Caucus-goers have up to 15 minutes to gather into groups of supporters, one for each candidate.

4. THE RESHUFFLE: A round of arguing, deal-making and arm-twisting begins. Groups that are viable stay in place, while members of nonviable groups have up to 15 minutes to pick new allegiances.

5. THE CHOICE, PART II: New groups form. That's the final grouping, and delegates are now apportioned.

6. REPORTING: Each of the caucuses reports to headquarters. When all the caucuses are over, the delegates are tallied, and the state Democratic Party announces the results. It expects to have final results by 2 p.m.

* The rules are different for the nine at-large caucus sites on the Strip -- Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, Flamingo Las Vegas, Luxor, Caesars Palace, Rio, New York-New York, The Mirage and Paris Las Vegas. If you're a shift worker within 21/2 miles of those resorts you may attend but must sign a form attesting to as much, and be either scheduled to work during the caucus or within an hour of it. You also must show an employee ID indicating you're a shift worker within that distance. There are no Republican at-large caucus sites.

REPUBLICANS

1. ARRIVE BY 9 A.M.: You must have been a registered Republican for at least 30 days, and you will be asked for ID when you enter. A caucus chair is elected to run the show. The whole caucus process will take about one hour, party leaders say.

2. DELEGATE CAMPAIGNING: Based on the number of registered Republicans who live in your area, your precinct gets a certain number of delegates. Those who want to be delegates give speeches asking for your vote. You're voting for fellow caucus-goers to be delegates, not for presidential candidates.

3. VOTE: Every caucus-goer gets a single vote, and the top vote-getters become delegates. Alternate delegates are elected using the same process.

4. CANDIDATE CAMPAIGNING: A representative of each presidential candidate gets two minutes to speak.

5. STRAW POLL: The caucus-goers vote directly for presidential candidates, via secret ballot. The vote totals are reported to headquarters, where they are combined with votes from all the other precincts.

6. REPORTING: When all the caucuses are over, the votes are tallied, and the state Republican Party announces the straw poll results. They expect to have final tallies by 1 p.m.