Saturday, the rare creatures that are — or “consider” themselves to be — Capitol Hill Republicans will make their way to north Seattle’s Roosevelt High School to take part in the 2012 Washington Republican Caucus.

Here’s an overview of what they’ll be doing (emphasis belongs to the state’s GOP powers that be):

A caucus is a gathering of registered voters organized by precincts or neighborhoods where people meet to elect delegates to the County Conventions, express their view of different items in the Republican Party Platform and state your presidential preference in our Straw Poll.

This is voters only chance to register your vote for who the Republicans will nominate to run against President Obama.

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In order to participate in the caucus you must be a registered voter. If you’re a registered voter, you will need to find your caucus location by clicking here.

Caucuses will occur Saturday March 3^rd from 10-12. So we would encourage you to show up at your caucus location around 9:30 to check in.

In order to facilitate a rapid check in process voters are encouraged to bring their voter registration card so they can find their precinct. Voters do check in by precinct. Caucus locations will have list of voters registered in those precincts. A voter must caucus in the precinct where they are registered to vote, therefore it is imperative that you identify which precinct you are registered to vote in and attend the correct caucus location.

Once you are checked in you will sit and caucus with your precinct. If it is a pooled caucus, you will be instructed where your precinct will be conducting business. (A Pooled caucus is simply when multiple precincts are caucusing in the same location, generally a public building) An individual caucus typically meets in a smaller building, sometimes a household.

Once the caucus is underway your precinct will conduct important business. You will elect delegates to the County Convention, where you will elect delegates to the State Convention and amend and vote on the County Platform. This is the most important business of the caucus. Anyone is able to run to be a delegate to the County Convention. There is a cost associated with attending your county convention, that fee is due in the week or two following the caucus.

When you sign in, you participate in the presidential straw poll by writing down your presidential preference. After caucus delegates and alternates are nominated and elected, you may fill out an optional questionnaire that asks for your feedback on what the Republican Party platform should be. The caucus is scheduled to adjourn at 12PM noon. The statewide results of the presidential straw poll will be released to the media on Saturday early evening.

An interesting note from the FAQ:

Do I have to be registered as a Republican to participate?
No. Washington State does not have partisan voter registration. So you are unable to register as a Republican. To participate in the caucus, you need to be registered to vote, and be willing to sign a form that you “consider yourself to be a republican” and you will not be participating in any other parties nominating caucus this year.

You can learn more at wsrpcaucus.tumblr.com.