5 Key Facts About Presidential Caucuses

If you want to get a reaction from an Iowan, say you’re tired of having their caucuses select a president for the entire country. You’ll get an earful of reasons that just ain’t so faster than you can say “pork queen.”

Iowa’s position on the election calendar has given the state’s caucus-goers an early thumbs up—or down—on presidential hopefuls since the early 1970s. Nevada’s caucuses, which occur a few weeks later, are the “First in the West.” That makes both states a bellwether for public opinion. Many a candidate has surged in primary voting after a good showing in Iowa. And many others have dropped out after disappointing results in Nevada.

Though the number of states holding caucuses rather than primary elections during presidential election cycles can vary, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also expected to hold caucuses in 2024.

Both caucuses and primary elections play a role in selecting major party candidates for presidential elections. But that’s about all they have in common.

The Epoch Times spoke with Republican party leaders in Iowa, Nevada, and North Dakota to learn how their parties’ caucuses work and why some states prefer them. Democratic leaders in those states did not respond to requests for comment.

Here are five things you need to know about the caucuses in Iowa and beyond.

Organized by Parties, Not States

Caucuses are local gatherings of party members organized by the parties themselves and not by the states.

Primary elections are organized and paid for by the states and are subject to state election laws. To a voter, primaries may seem exactly like a regular election, except that all the candidates are from the same party.

In many state primaries, Republicans and Democrats vote on the same day and in the same precincts. They’re just given different ballots depending on party affiliation. In many states, registered voters can choose which primary to vote in regardless of their party affiliation.

Caucuses look and feel different because they are partisan gatherings, not subject to the same laws as a primary election. Each political party is free to organize caucuses according to its own rules.

The downside is that the parties receive no organizational help from the states. Each party must finance and operate its own events. One exception is that in Iowa state law mandates that public schools must allow their facilities to be used as caucus locations.

Most caucuses are held at the precinct level, the smallest unit in the election system. That can make organizing caucuses a major challenge for party leaders.

For example, Iowa’s Polk County, which includes Des Moines, has 176 precincts, and each will have its own caucus.

“We never know how many to project; you don’t register or anything like that,” Gloria Mazza, chair of the Republican Party of Polk County, told The Epoch Times. “we know the turnout from, say, a couple years ago. Then we’re looking to find a location in the precinct that will hold close to 300 people.”

From finding the venue to printing the materials and setting up chairs, caucuses are entirely a volunteer operation.

“According to our rules, the state party is to ensure at least eight caucus locations in North Dakota,” Republican State Committeeman Shane Goettle told The Epoch Times. “Those will be in our eight major cities, which are also ideally situated around the state.”

However, each of North Dakota’s 47 legislative districts can choose to hold a caucus if they wish.

“So right now, we don’t know how many we will have, but there will be at least eight,” Goettle said.

Nevada’s GOP caucuses are held in each of the state’s thousands of precincts.

An Event, Not a Line

Primary election voters are used to showing up, sometimes standing in a line, casting a vote, and leaving immediately. Most caucuses don’t operate like that.

Caucuses are generally held in the evening in a public space like a school gym or community center, and they may last from 30 minutes to three hours.

That’s especially true in states like Iowa and Nevada, where caucuses are used to conduct party business other than the selection of a presidential nominee.

“We do two things,” Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, told The Epoch Times. “We do our party business: elect people to go to the county conventions and elect our local leaders. That’s a caucus. Almost all parties have that.”

“What makes Iowa unique is that we have a presidential preference poll, and we go first [in the nation]. … Those are the two orders of business,” Mr. Kaufmann said.

Attendance varies based on the size of the precinct and can range from about 40 to as many as 500 participants, according to Ms. Mazza. A typical Iowa caucus may last from 90 minutes to two hours, though many attendees leave after the presidential preference poll.

Nevadans also use caucuses to conduct local party business, though their meetings are a bit shorter. “Anywhere from a half-hour to an hour,” Jim DeGraffenreid, Republican National Committeeman for Nevada, told The Epoch Times. “It just depends on how many people are there and how deep into discussion they want to get.”

North Dakotans typically caucus during a three-hour window, like 6 to 9 p.m. There may be speeches or presentations given, but participants are free to vote and leave whenever they like.

Electioneering Allowed

States generally prohibit campaigning for a particular candidate in or near a polling place. They do that to ensure that the voting is conducted in a neutral environment. Once a voter approaches the voting site, no one is allowed to influence their vote. Usually, even clothing or buttons touting a candidate are prohibited.

That’s not the case with caucuses.

At a caucus, presidential candidates or their representatives are usually allowed to make speeches. Neighbors can discuss the candidates amongst themselves and try to persuade one another.

“I’ve experienced a caucus where there was a debate,” Mr. Goettle said of North Dakota. “People could stand up and make their best case for the candidate of their choice. And you were free to cast your vote and leave or to sit and listen to the discussion.”

In Iowa, where candidates are eager to make their first impression on voters, it can be tough for organizers to fit all speakers into the program, according to Ms. Mazza.

“In my precinct in 2016, we had [former President Donald] Trump, [Florida Sen. Marco] Rubio, [former Pennsylvania Congressman Rick] Santorum, and [former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development] Ben Carson show up that night, and we only allow three to five minutes,” Ms. Mazza said.

“That goes even for the candidates themselves because others will have a spokesperson recruited to speak. That can take a while,” she said.

After the speechifying, caucus-goers vote on the candidate of choice. In most caucuses, but not all, that involves casting a ballot.