Democrats to ask personal questions of caucusgoers

OLYMPIA -- Prepare to provide your name, address, phone number and e-mail when you sign in at Democratic caucuses Saturday.

And, if you don't mind, please list your race and sexual orientation, too.

The form set for use in Snohomish and 37 other counties contains boxes asking for ethnicity, and if a participant is disabled or lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered.

Filling those boxes in is listed as "optional" and Democratic Party leaders said those who find it offensive should leave them blank.

"If they are offended, I'm sorry," said Mark Hintz, Snohomish County Democratic Party chairman. "They can always put down NOYB – none of your business."

In Kitsap County, Democrats decided to design their own sign-in sheet without the optional questions.

Carl Olson, who heads up that county's party, said voters don't get asked about their race and sexual orientation in regular elections, so why should those participating in the caucuses be asked?

"We just felt it was raising some issues that would not be to the benefit of the party," he said. "This is diametrically opposed to what we say we're about in the political arena."

State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz said Wednesday he did not know Kitsap County had come up with its own form.

The inquiries are intended to help Washington's Democratic Party balance its selection of delegates.

Twenty-nine of the party's 97 delegates will be chosen in June based on the plan's numeric goals for diversity.

"We are a diverse party," Pelz said. "We are committed to affirmative action and we are committed to our affirmative action strategy. Don't fill it in if you don't want to."

A spokesman for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign said the form's content shouldn't discourage supporters from taking part Saturday.

"I don't think whatever is in the voting card will make any difference. I don't see it as an obstacle," said Jeff Giertz, press secretary for the campaign's Washington operation.

Those attending Republican caucuses won't find any optional questions. They'll simply sign their name and give their address, phone number and an e-mail address.

"We're not as obsessed with categorizing Americans as our Democratic friends," state Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser said.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfieldheraldnet.com.