PHOENIX – Monday night’s first-in-the-nation caucuses aren’t restricted to Iowa.

In fact, four Arizona locations, including one in Maricopa County, are taking part in the first step toward nominating a Democratic candidate to take on President Donald Trump.

Three of the Arizona satellite caucuses are in the Tucson area. Valley Iowans will gather in Queen Creek, at the Harkins movie theater at Rittenhouse and Ellsworth Road.

The Queen Creek caucus begins at 3:30 p.m. Arizona time. The Tucson caucuses start at 6 p.m. Arizona time, the same as most of the meetings in Iowa.

The satellite events give Iowa residents who are out of state during primary time a chance to participate in the presidential candidate selection process. They had to sign up by Jan. 17 in order to participate in the satellite caucuses.

Mail-in ballots aren’t an option because Iowa’s primary process, which requires registered voters to be present in order to express their preferences. If their candidate doesn’t gain 15% support in the first round at each caucus, voters can switch their pick to a candidate still in the running.

Iowa scheduled more than two dozen out-of-state caucuses, some as far-flung as Scotland, France and the Republic of Georgia.

“Our goal has remained steadfast throughout this process – to make these caucuses the most accessible in our party’s history, and the satellite caucuses do just that,” state Democratic party chair Troy Price said when the locations were announced.

With four each, Arizona and Florida have the most out-of-state Iowa caucuses.

Tune to KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday night starting at 7 p.m. for special coverage of the Iowa caucuses.

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