By Joyce Anderson, for the Chippewa Valley Post
NOTE: this is the second of three articles by Joyce Anderson that provide a first-hand account of what happened last Monday evening at the Democratic presidential caucus in one Iowa precinct. The earlier article is available here. This portion of the account picks up with the official start of the evening’s proceedings, shortly after 7 p.m.
By 7 p.m. last Monday. it was standing-room only inside the white concrete block building at the fairgrounds in Decorah, Iowa.
That was the deadline to sign in for the Democratic Party caucus in the Winneshiek County precinct where my husband Dave and I went to observe how Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential voting looked up close. The building, which appeared to be an exhibit hall for 4H participants, was lined with presidential candidates’ signs and posters.
Before 7 p.m., candidate “whips” – the chosen leaders for each candidate – were available for conversation and questions. Though many people had already positioned themselves around the room nearest their candidate’s designated space, everyone was free to mingle and converse before the caucus got underway.
Signing in
Everyone who entered the building was required to sign in with their address and contact information. As with Wisconsin primaries, names were checked against a list of registered voters for the precinct, though there was no requirement to show an ID card.
If you were not registered as a Democrat, you could do so before signing in. Everyone who was eligible to vote in the caucus was given a name tag lined in blue.
When we arrived, we were directed to a table to sign in as observers (and as Chippewa Valley Post representatives). We were given a gold rimmed name tag that we needed to openly display so we wouldn’t be mistaken for voters.
Iowans are friendly, and some said they were pleased we were there but were surprised that we had driven all the way to Decorah to observe, as if they were a rare species participating in a unique rite. In a way, they kind of are, although this year’s serious problems in reporting final vote and delegate totals have raised questions as to whether Iowa’s caucus system has at last run its course.
The caucus gets underway
At 7:05, Luther Snow, the caucus chair, stepped onto the platform, turned on the microphone and welcomed everyone to Precinct 2, one of eight Democratic caucuses in Winneshiek County and one of 1,678 in the state. (There were also 99 satellite caucuses world-wide, for Iowa Democrats who couldn’t get to an in-state caucus on Monday.)
Snow noted that, in 2016, 200 people caucused in his First Lutheran Church basement. Tonight, there were 406 as well as a few observers.
He reminded us that everyone present on Monday night was a volunteer. These included 25 people who had signed up to help rent and set up the room and staff the sign-in and registration tables.
“Tonight”, he said “there will be no secret ballot” but “neighbors and friends coming together, all united in making a brighter more progressive future.” He welcomed participants from the countryside, from the town, the local college, people of color, people in wheel chairs, people who ran marathons, people who ran marathons in wheelchairs, Norwegians, and especially “our new friends from the Republican party who are joining us tonight,” a comment that got lots of applause.
Snow asked everyone to stand, shake their neighbors’ hand and thank them for participating in this civic duty. Our caucus neighbors ended up smiling, sharing greetings with us, commenting that this was like church and – after returning to their seats – laughing with us when the next request was to put money in the envelopes that were being passed around to pay for the building rental and the electricity.
Caucusing (surprise!) was on the agenda
All of this led up to announcing the evening’s agenda. It included caucusing but it also contained items that would determine the county party’s leadership, select state convention delegates and propose resolutions for the Democrats’ state platform.
At 7:30 ballots were passed out to all eligible voters, a total of 406 which included nearly everyone in the room. This was an important number to keep in mind, because caucus rules state that in precincts (such as this one) electing more than three delegates to their county’s party convention, any candidate must get support from 15% of the total number of voters present in order to be considered a “viable candidate.”
Viable candidates are proportionally assigned numbers of state delegate equivalents (SEDs). More SEDs means more support for a candidate at the county convention and, eventually, at the state and national Democratic conventions.
Voters were instructed to fill out their ballot cards by writing the name of their first presidential preference choice on the side of the card with the big #1 on it. They were reminded that with 406 voters, there needed to be at least 61 people gathered in support of a specific candidate for that candidate to be considered viable and earn SEDs.
Whips for each candidate were given an opportunity to speak to the whole group. Pete Buttigieg‘s military experience, Joe Biden’s ability to get things done in government, Elizabeth Warren‘s economic skill and understanding of middle class needs, Andrew Yang’s knowledge of our new economy and its needs, Amy Klobuchar‘s toughness, yet genuine concern and Bernie Sanders‘ understanding that we need dramatic change were all touted.
At 7:52 p.m. – 47 minutes after the caucus was called to order – everyone was told to stand up and caucus.
NOTE: The third and final part of this report on how 406 Democratic caucus voters in one Iowa precinct made their decisions will be posted over weekend (Feb. 8-9).
Joyce Anderson, an Iowa native, is an Eau Claire-based educator, activist and writer. She was a member of the CVPost’s board of directors when its website was launched in February, 2015. She also reported on the 2016 Iowa caucuses for the CVPost. [ADD LINK: