Caucus-Vegas style

Apparently, some groups are bothered by the stranglehold the Cullinary Union holds on Vegas casinos and the potential impact that could have if primary caucuses can be held within casinos. From the AP:

The Nevada State Education Association, its president and five people identified as Democrats planning to attend the Jan. 19 caucus filed the lawsuit late Friday against the Nevada Democratic Party.

The suit claims that party rules making it easier for Las Vegas Strip shift workers to attend the precinct meetings violate Nevada law and federal equal protection guarantees. Most of those shift workers are members of the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, a group that endorsed Democrat Barack Obama on Tuesday.

The Culinary is the largest union in Nevada and one of the few with the organizational muscle to have a major impact on the caucus. Caucus rules boost that influence by allowing shift workers employed within 2.5 miles of the Strip to attend one of nine "at-large" precinct meetings in casinos, rather than return to their home precinct. The suit claims that the system for determining the number of delegates up for grabs at the at-large meetings is unfair.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gyvInzNqbVlZRinR5LP_RYQ8CU1AD8U4LR400

Seems like more of a political battle than a legal one, but it is interesting to note the issue has gone unnoticed by Nevada officials until the process received national attention. Not a-typical in the Silver state.