Last night, the results of Nevada's Republican presidential primary were tallied up. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who was running basically unopposed, received fewer votes than the option "none of these candidates." Yes, you read that right.
"The primary, which awards no delegates, had seemed like a foregone conclusion, as former President Donald J. Trump chose not to take part," reports The New York Times. "On Thursday, he will instead participate in party-run caucuses where all of the state's 26 delegates will be awarded, a choice by Nevada Republicans that complicated the process and rendered the primary basically irrelevant."
The dual-primary system in Nevada is confusing and frankly kind of stupid, so Haley's bad showing doesn't count for anything other than embarrassment, and the fact that so many people felt comfortable giving a protest vote doesn't count for much given the utter insignificance of the contest.
Nevada used to, in the past, hold caucuses, but did away with them circa 2021 in favor of a primary with both mail-in and in-person voting. This year, the Nevada Republican Party chose to host an in-person caucus, further adding to people's confusion and the extraordinary chaos that is this election season—one full of Trump skipping debates, Biden memory lapses, Gavin Newsom/Ron DeSantis debate-stage showdowns, oddly high Robert F. Kennedy Jr. polling (?), and "section guy" Vivek Ramaswamy constantly interrupting everyone else.
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