NEVADA, USA — Voters in Nevada head to the polls Tuesday to cast their votes in the state’s presidential primary, but some users on social media say this election doesn’t even count. Coming off wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, even former President Donald Trump insists the outcome of Tuesday’s vote in Nevada doesn’t matter--while also declaring victory in the state.
THE QUESTION:
Is it true that Nikki Haley can’t win any delegates in Nevada?
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THE SOURCES:
THE ANSWER:
Yes, the top Republican challenger to Donald Trump disqualified herself from earning the votes of Nevada delegates at the Republican National Convention.
WHAT WE FOUND:
In declaring victory in Nevada, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that his opponent Nikki Haley “didn’t want to play because of her bad Polling. She gets ZERO DELEGATES, I get them all.”
He was able to make the claim well before voters began casting ballots because of a quirk in this year's nominating process that means the Silver State is holding both a primary election and a caucus.
For years, Nevadans caucused to select their preferred presidential candidate. Caucuses are organized by political parties, whereas elections are run by state government.
In 2020, the results of the Democratic caucus were delayed. In an effort to avoid this issue in future elections, state lawmakers passed a bill requiring Nevada to run and hold elections.
However, it remains up to state parties to choose how they award delegates to the National Convention to ultimately select a candidate, so the state’s Republican party opted to hold a caucus as well.
The Nevada GOP has made efforts to reinforce the authority of the caucus results. The party enacted rules banning any candidate who appears on the state-run primary ballot from taking part in the caucus, and awarding all Nevada delegates to the Republican National Convention based on the outcome of the caucus. The Nevada primary election results will not have an impact on the convention vote.
The Trump campaign filed for the caucus, while Haley (as well as other high-profile candidates who've dropped out, like former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie) filed for the primary.
While the Haley campaign did not confirm to Verify the reasons for her political strategy, it is true that she's disqualified from the process that would have enabled her to win the vote of Nevada delegates at the Republican National Convention.
Though candidates are not permitted to compete in both the election and the caucus, Nevadans can participate in both. That's why despite Trump not appearing on the ballot himself, his supporters are urging people to choose the option labeled “none of these candidates” to prevent Haley from claiming a victory in the election.