The Democratic Caucus will take place on February 3, 2020. Make sure to arrive at your caucus location before 7:00 PM so you can get checked in and seated so the caucus can begin promptly. It is reccommended that you arrive by 6:30 PM. This is an opportunity for you to confirm or update your address and update you party affiliation if need be. No identification will be required.
Once everyone is checked in, the caucus is opened by a temporary chair. Caucus-goers will then vote on the chair, and the proceedings can officially begin.
Once the caucus is opened, candidates or representatives from campaigns (often referred to as surrogates) can speak on behalf of a candidate in order to convince undecided caucus-goers to support them. Not all candidates will have speakers in every precinct, so it is possible that they will simply distribute campaign literature to inform caucus-goers about their choices. Once all of the surrogates have had an opportunity to speak, the real fun can begin.
The next step in a Democratic Caucus is the delegate distribution. This will happen in two rounds.
- For the first round, caucus-goers will physically move to a designated space in the room for their first candidate preference. If they are not sure which candidate they would like to support, they can form an “Uncommitted” group (fun fact, “Uncommitted” won the 1976 Iowa Caucus, and former President Jimmy Carter was in second place).
- Once everyone is in place, a count is taken. NEW for 2020, at this point everyone will fill out the first side of a Candidate Preference Card.
In order for a candidate to be considered viable*, they will have to have a minimum of 15% of caucus-goers in their corner (literally). NEW for 2020, if your candidate immediately meets the viability threshold, your “vote” is locked in, and you will not be able to realign with another candidate, this also includes the uncommited group. If your candidate/group has not met the 15% threshold, then you will have the opportunity to realign with another candidate during the second round, otherwise known as the realignment period. If you realign with a second candidate, you’ll complete the second side of the Candidate Preference Card.
During this realignment period, campaign surrogates may try to persuade uncommitted or non-viable groups to move into their camp. During this period, you can still move to or remain uncommitted, you can merge two unviable corners, or you can join with an existing viable group. If, at the end of the realignment, your group is still not viable, then your votes are not counted in the final totals. After the realignment, another count is taken, and the results are calculated.
But it is not so cut and dry. Once the final count is taken, there is a considerable amount of “caucus math” that has to take place in order to calculate how many delegates each viable candidate will receive, which is contingent on the number of delegates available to your precinct. Once the calculations are done, the results are announced to the caucus then reported to the state parties. From here, the caucus will decide who in the room will go on to serve as a delegate at the county convention. Caucus participants are free to leave after the delegate nominating process ends.
After the nominating contest ends, the caucus moves into party business. During this time, people may introduce possible platform planks. These planks are then voted on and reported to the state party. During this time, party representatives may also ask for donations to the state parties.
After party business, the caucus is closed and the remaining attendees can – finally – go home.
*Not all precincts have a 15% viability threshold, but 15% is the most common.