European press looks at the Nevada elections

The European Jewish Press has a report that some Nevadans are angry that the Democratic Caucaus is being held on a Saturday:

Jewish groups and some Seventh-Day Adventists have both complained that followers will be frozen out of the Democratic and Republican caucuses because they take place on the Sabbath.

"To schedule these caucuses with no consideration whatsoever for the needs of Sabbath observers effectively disenfranchises a growing portion of the electorate," said American Jewish Committee counsel Jeffrey Sinensky.

Sinensky said in a statement that because there were no provision for submitting absentee ballots, anyone observing a Saturday Sabbath would not be able to take part in the caucuses.

The party big-shots seem less than interested in all of this whining:

"Scheduling the caucuses on Sabbath morning marginalizes both the Seventh Day Adventist Christian and Orthodox Jewish Communities," said James Standish, an associate director of the Adventist Church.

"In an election that is being decided on thin margins, selecting a time that excludes thousands of voters may even change the outcome," he added.

Nevada Democratic officials have disputed the lawsuit’s claims, pointing out that the voting process had been approved by the Democratic National Committee as long ago as May last year.

The obvious thing that 90% of the people reading the last paragraph will ask is: "Well, didn't the Lord command the Jews to keep the Sabbath even earlier than May last year?" Certainly this is what I thought. But I was being unfair: to many of the people who organize caucuses, I'm sure that last May seems unbelievably remote, and 3,000 years is just a meaningless stretch of time.

And let's face facts. Maybe anyone who would rather obey a direct command from the Almighty than a decision approved by the Democratic National Committee doesn't belong in the Democratic party anyway.