Faith group knocks timing of Nevada caucuses

There's been quite a bit of talk about the Nevada caucuses and how it added diversity to the presidential nomination process by holding them earlier in the calendar.

But the Democratic and Republican parties apparently forgot one group in scheduling the caucuses on Saturday morning -- Nevada's Jewish population, which celebrates its Sabbath then.

The GOP caucuses start at 9 a.m. local time, and the Democratic meetings at 11 a.m. Those times directly conflict with services at synagogues, and tradition dictates that Jews don't work or travel all day, further restricting their participation since there is no absentee balloting allowed, unlike in a primary.

Today, the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance criticized the timing and called on the Nevada political parties to make sure the conflict doesn't recur in 2012. There about 70,000 Jews in Nevada, about 3 percent of the state's population.

"This scheduling decision imposes a barrier that will prevent the full participation of the Jewish community in Nevada," the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, said in a statement. "In a country that values religious liberty, no person should ever be forced to choose between practicing their religion and participating in their democracy. America is the most religiously diverse nation in the world, and the political process should be open to all on equal terms."

Party officials have that said more workers will be able to caucus because the meetings are on a weekend, and that some people unfortunately would be left out whenever the caucuses are held.