“Whatever the number is, I think it would be impossible to have enough to meet the need,” said Rob Barron, a Polk County school board member who runs a group dedicated to electing more Latinos to office. “Even if you’re a native English speaker, the process is intimidating. So for those who are willing to walk into that room without speaking the language, then hear words like viable, it’s only going to get more and more chaotic and confusing.”

In her day job, Ms. Marcano-Kelly travels all over the state as a Spanish interpreter, working in courts, medical offices and community centers. She learned years ago that more work was available than she could ever take on.

“We’re always short,” she said, adding that she knew of fewer than 10 fully certified interpreters in the state.

A native of Venezuela, Ms. Marcano-Kelly became a citizen just last year, after years of studying and working in the United States. After spending some of her teenage years in Boca Raton, Fla., she applied to South Dakota State University — choosing the college because it had the cheapest international student tuition she could find.

When the Democratic Party put a call out for applications for satellite caucuses that could be held away from traditional geographic precincts, Ms. Marcano-Kelly knew immediately that she would write one for Spanish. She thought of several of her friends who recently became citizens but do not speak English, as well as many Puerto Ricans she knows who moved to Iowa after Hurricane Maria struck the island in 2017.

As soon as the application was approved, Ms. Marcano-Kelly rushed to get a news release to Spanish radio stations and newspapers throughout the state, describing the caucuses as “asambleas comunitarias electorales” — community electoral assemblies. But el caucus is what sticks.

For all the linguistic efforts, Ms. Marcano-Kelly was certain of one thing: She did not want to be the one to run the caucus.