‘First in the nation’

“If we lose first in the nation, we will never see another presidential candidate in Iowa again,” former chair of the Union County Democratic Party Marcia Fulton said, speaking of how important it is for Iowa voters to participate in the caucuses Monday.

Fulton went on to say that she spent much of her adult life in Florida where candidates do not tend to hold the small, personal events that they do in Iowa.

“You don’t get to ask them questions,” she said. “I don’t think the people of Iowa realize how lucky they are to not get lost in the shuffle.”

How to caucus

Step 1: Show up.

Unlike primary voting, all participants in a caucus must be in the same location at the same time. Conversation and persuasion are central to the idea of caucusing — both for voters who are undecided and those whose candidates do not have enough representation to be considered viable at the caucus location.

The Iowa caucuses will be held 7 p.m. Feb. 3. It is advised that participants arrive at least half an hour early to check in and find a seat. Union County has five caucus sites based on the participant’s address and party affiliation.

Those who wish to attend the Republican caucus for all Creston precincts will meet at the Creston Community Middle School; those who live in Afton, Arispe or Lorimor will caucus at the Afton Community Center.

Democratic caucuses will be held at the Creston Community High School for most Creston precincts, Southwestern Community College Room 180 for Creston precinct 2 and the East Union School auditorium for residents of Afton, Arispe and Lorimor.

Those who are unsure of their assigned caucus or who live in other Iowa counties can visit www.iwillvote.com for the Democratic caucus or https://www.iowagop.org/2020-caucus-locations for the Republican caucus sites.

Step 2: Register

Iowa caucuses are designed to allow as many eligible voters as possible to participate. The requirements for eligibility are the same as voting by ballot. Participants must be more than 17 years old and turning 18 before Nov. 3, 2020, a resident of the precinct and eligible to vote.

Although both Republican and Democratic caucuses require participants to be registered with the party to participate, this registration may be the party a participant is already registered with or may be changed at the precinct at the time of the caucus. There is no requirement to be previously registered in the party or to stay registered with the party. This means that a voter who is registered Independent may chose a party to register with for the purpose of caucusing and then return to independent status afterwards. Likewise, a Democrat can register as a Republican and vice versa for caucusing. However, a participant may not caucus for more than one party.

Step 3: Begin

There will be some housekeeping measures that need to be accomplished such as electing a chair and a secretary, then the caucusing will begin.

Each candidate may have a speaker to present information and try to persuade voters to side with them during the caucus.

Democrats

The supporters of each candidate gather in a specified location. Voters may also remain “unspecified” or decline to choose a specific candidate at this time. This is known as the “first expression of preference.”

Participants will have approximately 30 minutes to persuade other voters to join their group while undecided voters may visit with each group and choose one to align themselves with or remain unspecified.

Each candidate must have at least a set percentage of the voters present join their group. That percentage can range from 25% to 15% (based on the number of delegates) unless the precinct only elects one delegate. In the case of one delegate, there is no minimum percentage. If a group is declared not viable, the members of that group may realign with a viable group or form a new viable group. In the case where there are more viable groups than delegates, the smallest groups must realign.

Once only viable groups remain, the “final expression of preference” will be recorded. Then it is time to elect delegates.

Each group chooses a chair and then selects a number of delegates assigned according to a formula that takes into account the number of total caucus attendees, the number of attendees in the group and the number of delegates allowed for the precinct. The groups also choose alternate delegates to serve in case the first choice is not able to fulfill their duties.

The entire caucus must then ratify the slate of delegates by a majority vote, saying in essence, that the correct procedures were followed to elect the delegates.

The caucus then chooses a platform committee, committee on committees and central committee from the pool of delegates and then may discuss platform ideas and concepts to be submitted to the county platform committee.

For the first time this year, the results of the first and final preference groups will be submitted to the Iowa Democratic Party along with the number of delegates for each candidate. Although these numbers will not be used in any official capacity, candidates may use the information in future campaigning, leaving the door open for more than one candidate to declare themselves the winner in Iowa.

Republicans

The process of caucusing for Republicans is more straightforward. After representatives for the candidates speak, attendees use a paper ballot to vote secretly for the candidate of their choice. The results are tallied and the delegates are elected in proportion to their percentage of the vote.

Republicans will also elect committees and discuss platforms during the caucus event.

Union County Republican party secretary Josh Capson said it is still important for Republicans to attend the caucus even though the outcome seems obvious. There will actually be three candidates represented at the caucus: Donald Trump, Joe Walsh former Illinois Representative and Bill Weld former governor of Massachusetts.

It is also important to talk about the party platform and put forth new ideas, Capson said.

“If we want the party to start addressing things that aren’t currently on the platform,” he said. “You can submit, ‘I would like this change to happen.’”

With the current impeachment proceedings against Trump, it is also a good time to show support for him, Capson said.

“We can go and show our support for President Trump and say, ‘We know you’re under a lot of pressure and being attacked on everyhand by everybody ... but we think you’re doing a good job and we support you.”