“It’s caucus timePresidential politics continue in Island County with the political caucuses for the two major parties scheduled for Tuesday, March 7.South Whidbey Republicans will caucus at 8 p.m. at the Bayview Senior Center, located off Highway 525 across from Casey’s shopping center.South Whidbey Democrats will begin their caucus at 7:30 p.m. at Bayview Hall, located just north of HIghway 525 on Bayview Road.In Greenbank, Democrats will meet at the Greenbank Farm, while Republicans will gather at the Greenbank Progressive Hall.In Tuesday’s presidential preference primary election in Island County, George W. Bush nipped John McCain by 336 votes among Republican voters. But when unaffiliated votes were added, McCain came out solidly ahead, 5,247 to 4,100.Democrat Al Gore outpolled Bill Bradley by more than a two-to-one margin, 2070 to 1014. Gore also won handily among unaffiliated voters.The numbers are from vote totals after regular ballots were counted Tuesday night, and after several thousand absentees were counted Thursday. About 2,000 more absentees remained to be counted, according to the Island County Auditor’s Office.Voters had three ballots from which to choose. Here are the Island County results through Thursday.DEMOCRATIC BALLOT: Al Gore 2070, Bill Bradley 1014, Lyndon LaRouche, Jr., 18. REPUBLICAN BALLOT: George W. Bush 3383, John McCain 3047, Alan Keyes 114, Steve Forbes 47, Gary Bauer 23.UNAFFILIATED BALLOT: John McCain 2200, Al Gore 749, George W. Bush 717, Bill Bradley 656, Alan Keyes 86, Gary Bauer 12, Orrin Hatch 11, Lyndon LaRouche, Jr., 10.Being forced to select a ballot in public was something new for many of the voters, said Island County Auditor Suzanne Sinclair. There have been two previous presidential primaries in this state, but they only attracted about 13 percent of the voters.Tuesday’s primary brought out 37 percent of voters county-wide, and 42 percent on South Whidbey, Sinclair said.She cited one poll worker’s report that said a number of people were unhappy with the system. They wanted their vote to count without announcing whether they were voting Republican or Democrat.Sinclair said she will recommend more privacy protections for the next presidential primary in 2004.The Auditor’s Office will count more absentee ballots next week. The results will become official when the election is certified on March 10 by the county canvassing board.”