A gathering of gatherings

Sunday, January 18, 2004

By Fritz Wenzel, Block News Alliance

DES MOINES, Iowa -- After months of public opinion polls, tomorrow's Iowa caucuses represent what candidates typically say is the first poll that matters -- real voters making real choices.

But the Iowa caucuses are not like elections held elsewhere.

At 6:30 p.m., neighbors will gather at nearly 2,000 community meetings in local schools, churches, senior centers and similar settings to declare their presidential preferences. To be counted, Iowans must attend. There are no absentee or provisional ballots.

Anyone who will be 18 by Nov. 2, 2004 -- the date of the presidential election -- is allowed to participate, even if she arrives at her caucus site not having registered to vote or not being a Democrat. There will be voter registration and party affiliation declarations available at each caucus site that new participants will have to complete, said Ben Foecke, Democratic Party caucus director. Fraud is discouraged because Iowans know their neighbors, he said.

For Democrats, there is no secret ballot -- everyone must state a choice. Republicans typically vote by dropping the name of their favored candidate into a basket or hat, but no major Republican challengers have stepped forward this year to take on President Bush.

The meetings will continue until about 8 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. to allow time for each meeting to organize itself, entertain speeches by campaign representatives or by caucus-goers, and to vote. Campaign surrogates are allowed to attend and speak if invited, but they are not allowed to have any additional sway over a caucus meeting.

The leader of the caucus has some discretion over how votes are conducted. Some have people stand in separate corners of the room representing different candidates, while others merely call for a show of hands.

There will be a series of votes.

A candidate must obtain at least 15 percent support at a caucus to be considered a "viable" candidate there, Foecke said. After a vote, supporters of those candidates who did not reach the 15 percent threshold can either drop out of the process or switch allegiance to a second choice.

This process continues until all remaining candidates have at least 15 percent support. At that point, a final tally is taken. Results are phoned to a central computer bank and announced in Des Moines.

Presidential delegates are awarded to each precinct based on voter turnout in the last two presidential elections, so the votes of those living in precincts with a history of higher turnout are worth more than the votes of those in low-turnout areas. Some precincts will control as many as four delegates, while others may decide only a fraction of a delegate.

Under Democratic National Committee rules, Iowa's pledged delegates will be parceled out to the presidential candidates based on the percentage of the vote they win.

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