150,000 pre-registered for Washington's Democratic caucuses; early results expected by 2 p.m.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Party officials say more than 150,000 people have preregistered for Washington state's Democratic caucuses as of Saturday morning.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are vying to be their party's presidential nominee. There are about 7,000 precincts statewide for the caucuses and each location — ranging from schools to churches to community centers — will have anywhere from five to 20 precincts at their site.

Caucuses start at 10 a.m. and usually take no longer than two hours. After the precincts gather and a captain is selected, the first tally of support is counted and announced. Caucus goers are then able to try and convince undecided voters or to sway others to their candidate of choice before a second tally is counted. The results of that second tally are used to allot delegates to each candidate, and each group of caucus goers choose the delegates to move on to the county and legislative district caucuses.

Democratic spokesman Jamal Raad says that about 35,000 people voted in advance due to conflicts with work schedules, religious observances, illnesses, disabilities or military service.

The party had a record 250,000 people turn out for the caucuses in 2008, when President Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton. Clinton faces Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 caucuses.

Washington has 118 delegates at stake, with 101 that will ultimately be awarded proportionally based on the results of Saturday's caucuses.

Results are expected sometime Saturday afternoon.

Not sure how a caucus works? Q13  News has a list of everything you need to know before you head out.