By Marie Horrigan, CQ Staff

1. Why is Nevada important?

Nevada’s caucuses on Saturday provide the first significant chance for voters in the western half of the country to weigh in on the presidential nominating process (Wyoming Republicans caucused on Jan. 5). The state is enormous and features vast deserts, Indian reservations and the three key cities of Las Vegas, Reno and the capital, Carson City. Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas, is the fastest-growing county in the country. Issues important to Nevada voters, including water rights and transportation infrastructure, will resonate with voters in other Western states but would not get play without Nevada’s inclusion in the early calendar.

“As the first test of the Hispanic and Western vote, the Nevada caucus will play an important role in selecting a nominee that can win in the West, which will be key to winning the White House in 2008,” Sen. Harry Reid , who is also the Senate Democratic leader, said in a statement.

Supporters of Nevada’s early caucus also argue that the state more accurately reflects the face of America than other early contest states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Wyoming and Michigan. Thirty-one percent of Nevadans are minority while more than 90 percent of the residents of Iowa and New Hampshire are white.

2. How do Nevadans pick their presidential nominee preferences?

The rules are similar to the Iowa caucuses, governed by the national parties and overseen by the state parties. Republicans and Democrats proceed somewhat differently in how they approach the caucuses, which are the first step in a three-step process of electing delegates to their party’s national convention.

The Republicans go first, starting at 9 a.m. PT. Supporters of each candidate will speak on behalf of their candidates, after which caucus participants will vote in a presidential preference poll using secret ballot.

At the Democratic caucus, which is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. PT, participants will gather and move around the room to indicate their support for candidates. As in Iowa, Democratic presidential candidates need to meet a “viability threshold” in each caucus that is calculated based on complex factors. If candidates fail to meet that threshold, their supporters are released to support their second-choice candidate. In addition to expressing their preference for the presidential race, Democrats on Saturday also will make recommendations for the county central committee and elect delegates to the county conventions in the spring.

3. Who can participate on Saturday?

Democrats are more inclusive in this respect than Nevada Republicans. The state Democratic Party allows same-day voter registration for eligible voters and allows Republican and independent candidates to file to change their registration to Democratic on the day of the caucus. Republicans require Nevadans to have registered 30 days prior to the caucus to participate. That applies both to newly registered voters and party‑switchers.

4. What are the next steps?

Just as with other caucuses, these are just the beginning of the process. The candidates earn delegates for subsequent state party nominating events based on Saturday’s results, though the final delegate distribution may not necessarily exactly match the caucuses.

Democrats hold their state convention on April 19, where they will elect delegates to go to the Democratic National Convention in August.

For Republicans, the delegates and alternates elected on Saturday will attend their county convention in March, where delegates will be elected to the state convention in April. Delegates elected at the April 26 state convention will attend the Republican National Convention in September.

5. How powerful is Nevada?

Nevada has relatively small delegations to each parties’ convention, giving Saturday’s caucuses more significance for their symbolic value as the first contests in a Western state with a large Hispanic population (20 percent) than for their ability to swing the primary contests. Nevada Democrats have 34 delegates to their national convention while Nevada Republicans will be electing 33 delegates to their national convention. Neighboring powerhouse California, which is one of some two dozen states holding its primary on Super Duper Tuesday, allocates 441 delegates for Democrats and 173 for Republicans. Arizona, also holding a primary on Feb. 5, will decide 67 delegates for Democrats and 53 for Republicans. On that day alone 2,062 Democratic delegates and 1,048 Republican delegates will be allocated.

In terms of the electoral college vote — which is based on the number of House and Senate members in each state’s congressional delegation — Nevada has 5 electors. Thirty-three states have more electors than Nevada and four states — Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and West Virginia — also have five electors.

6. What is the political makeup of the state?

Republicans and Democrats are nearly equally represented in Nevada, with 40 percent of the state’s voters registered Democrats and 39 percent registered Republicans. Fifteen percent of the state’s voters are registered “non-partisan” or independent, and the balance is comprised of members of smaller parties: the Green, Independent American, Libertarian and Natural Law parties.

7. Just recently, there was a lawsuit challenging where some Democrats can vote in Las Vegas. What was that about and what happened?

The lawsuit was filed by the Nevada State Education Association to question the fairness of the Nevada Democratic Party’s so-called casino caucuses. They are nine at-large precincts the state party set up for shift workers employed within 2.5 miles of the Las Vegas Strip. The state party argued that these workers would be unable to participate in the caucus if they had to return to their home precincts. The meeting places for these precincts were in casinos that employ members of the state’s largest union, the Culinary Worker’s Union, which endorsed Barack Obama last week. Opponents of the plan ‑ many of whom were supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton ‑ said it unfairly singled out workers from the culinary union for special accommodation in the caucus.

The Democratic National Committee approved the plan, which state party Chairwoman Jill Derby said was constructed to help party members who often were disenfranchised by the 24/7 nature of their jobs. The national and state parties stand behind the plan.

“Our whole motivation here was to increase participation and access, the opportunity to participate, and that’s why we created these caucuses,” Derby told CQ Politics. The plan was “vetted and approved at a lot of different levels,” she said, adding, “It’s been a very transparent process .”

A federal judge on Thursday found in favor of the state party and rejected the Education Association’s call for a temporary restraining order. The caucuses will proceed as planned for Democrats and will include the nine at-large precincts.

8. Who has endorsed whom in the race?

Unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, Nevada has significant union presence, and Obama secured the endorsement of the culinary union, the largest in the state. The Nevada State Education Association has not endorsed a candidate in the race although its suit would have benefitted Clinton by undercutting the influence of Culinary Union workers. Reid, the state’s senior senator, has not endorsed a candidate in the race, although his son, Rory, runs Clinton’s campaign in Nevada, and the state’s only Democratic House member, Shelley Berkley , endorsed Clinton last week.

For Republicans, Rep. Jon Porter signed on as state chairman for Rudy Giuliani back in April when the former New York City mayor was leading in national polls. Porter, who represents the Las Vegas-based 3rd Congressional District, said his decision to back Giuliani was based on his reputation “protecting our families, promoting fiscal discipline and leading in trying times.” Giuliani, however, has little presence in Nevada as he has focused almost all his resources on Florida where he is looking for a strong win in the Jan. 29 primary. Sen. John Ensign and freshman Rep. Dean Heller , the state’s two other Republicans, have not weighed in on the race.