What happens at a Minnesota precinct caucus meeting I've presided over several of them now. For people who don't have the caucus system in their state, it might be interesting to know what happens. Minnesota precinct caucuses are important, because they determine the ratio of delegates pledged to candidates at the Minnesota state convention, where delegates to the Democratic National Convention are elected.



Our precinct caucuses are held in public places. In St. Paul, each ward has up to 14 precincts in it. In Ward 6, where I live, the caucuses are held in classrooms at a high school in the ward. The caucus meeting begins in the evening, usually at 7 PM. It's announced in the local papers and on the news, and the location and time are publicized by the local DFL district organization.



Since this is a presidential election year, with no incumbent in the race, I'll describe the 2008 caucus meeting, since it's most similar to this year. Here's the agenda:



1. Call to order - At 7PM, the caucus convener calls the caucus to order.

2. Election of Caucus Chair - This is done right away. Typically the convener gets that job, due to experience in running a caucus meeting.

3. Election of vote counting officers. This takes virtually no time, and the people who volunteer are generally elected by acclamation.

4. Reading of DFL documents. This includes a statement of support for DFL candidates and principles, along with our statement of support for equal treatment of all groups. There are no signed pledges of DFL membership or any such thing, but attendees are asked whether they agree with DFL principles as a group.

5. Straw Vote for Presidential Candidates - All eligible candidate are listed and a simple secret ballot vote is taken by having attendees write down the name of the candidate they support on a folded piece of paper. Before the voting, anyone can speak in favor of their favorite candidate. Such speeches are very brief and there were only a couple in 2008. Immediately thereafter, the tallying group counts and tallies the ballots, with a double-check process and the results are announced. A report on the voting is hand carried, along with all ballots, to the ward officers for recording and reporting.

Note: At this point in 2008, almost everyone left the caucus meeting. We had about 100 votes in the straw vote. Only 12 people were left for the rest of the meeting.

6. Call for Resolutions - At this time, any caucus attendee can submit resolutions for consideration at the District convention held about a month later. Any resolutions are read by the presenter and voted on by caucus attendees. In 2008, there were two resolutions presented and both were voted for and passed on to the next level.

7. Election of Precinct officers - Each Precinct has a chair, vice-chair and secretary. They really have no duties required of them. If the current officers are interested, they are usually re-elected. Getting volunteers to become officers is usually the biggest problem, even though there aren't really any required duties. I've been the chair for a few years, and maintain a website for the precinct, but it's the only precinct I know of with a website.

8. Election of Delegates to the State Senate District or County Convention - Each precinct is allocated a certain number of delegates. In 2008, our precinct could elect 14 delegates to the next level convention. Since there were only 12 people left at the caucus at this time, anyone who wanted to be a delegate could be a delegate. Only six people became delegates in 2008, which was too bad, really.

9. Adjournment - That's it. The caucus is adjourned and whoever is left goes home. The caucus chair takes the list of delegates to the ward chairman.



The bottom line here is that 100 or so people voted for their preferred presidential candidate. That's all. The vote was about 70 for Obama and 30 for Clinton. That all became part of the overall balance of delegate selection at the state convention, when combined with all of the other precinct results.



In 2008, the entire caucus meeting lasted less than 2 hours. And that's how it works in Minnesota. It was the highest attendance ever for a Ward 6, Precinct 13 caucus meeting. There are just over 2300 registered voters in that precinct. So about 100 people decided for the entire precinct.



If you have a caucus system, go to your caucus meeting. Your voice is definitely heard. Become a delegate to the convention at the next level. It's interesting and you get another voice in the process. Get involved! 7 Tweet