BY ALEXANDRIA CANNITO WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD 2016

RENO, Nev. (MyNews4.com & KRNV) — The Iowa caucus is in the books and now all eyes are on New Hampshire as we wait to see who voters pick on both the Democratic and Republican side. But Nevada is also playing a key role in the election.

If you’re hesitant to participate in the caucus, officials say there’s nothing to worry about.

According to Pam Dupre, the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Washoe County, “There is nothing to be anxious about. It’s fun and it’s nothing like going in and casting a vote in a primary election.”

The caucusing process is different for Republicans and Democrats.

Dupre says, “There’s going to be a lot of excitement in the air, there’s going to be a lot of discussion back and forth. If it turns out that their groups are not viable, they don’t have enough supporters to be viable, then the Clinton people and Sanders people are going to be lobbying hard to get those folks in their camps.”

Robert Uithoven, the Nevada State Director for the Ted Cruz campaign says, “You will gather with your precincts and caucus for the president of your choice. And ultimately you show up and you can convince people. If you want to just show up and select the candidate of your choice in the presidential preference poll you’re able to do that.”

While Democrats can register to vote the day of the caucus, Republicans must do it in advance. Because of the key role Nevada is playing in this election, officials are urging voters to be prepared to participate.

Dupre says, “We are by the far the most diverse of the early states. We’re much more diverse than Iowa and New Hampshire are. We have young, old, we have veterans, we have a lot of minority communities.”

According to Uithoven, “We have a unique opportunity to sit down and look eye to eye with the next possible president of the United States and vet them.”

And both parties want to make sure voters are ready to go by the end of February.

“There are trainings going on down here at headquarters every single day. People can sign up and come on in to participate in a mock caucus if they want to get a feel for how it’s going to work,” says Dupre.

According to Uithoven, “We do caucus trainings so that Nevadans are aware of the system and know how it works.”

The Democratic caucus is on Saturday, February 20th and the Republican caucus is on Tuesday, February 23rd.

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