February 3 caucuses allow local residents a chance to cast their vote for president

Voter registration available at caucus sites that evening

Registered Republican and Democrat voters across the state have the opportunity to participate in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses Monday, February 3, providing local residents a critical voice in the nomination process for this country's next president by casting their vote for their preferred candidate.

Those who choose to participate in the caucuses will not only choose presidential candidates for this year's election, but will make their voices heard as both political parties formulate their campaign platforms. Nomination petitions for other state and national elected offices will also be considered by caucus goers.

To attend a caucus, voters must be registered as either Democrat or Republican, but registration will be allowed at each of the caucus sites. Caucus locations for both political parties for the February 3 event are featured below in the bordered boxes.

ALLAMAKEE DEMOCRATS EXPLAIN THE CAUCUSES AND THIS YEAR’S CHANGES
Caucuses are neighborhood meetings of Democratic voters run by the state and local Democratic parties and not the state government. Every four years during the presidential elections, the caucuses are used to show support for Democratic presidential candidates. Since Iowa is the first state in the nation to hold a caucus or primary, all eyes are on Iowa to see which presidential candidate wins the Iowa caucuses.

Every Allamakee resident  who is a registered Democrat can participate in the caucuses. Those who are not a registered Democrat but want to caucus must register as a Democrat on caucus night. Those who are not registered to vote will be able to register at their precinct’s caucus.  Caucus attendees must reside in the precinct where they are caucusing. Those who don’t know their precinct should contact the Allamakee County Auditor at 563-568-3522.  To verify their caucus location, Democrats should call 515-244-7292 or visit the website www.iwillvote.com.

Allamakee County has eleven precincts and there will be ten Democratic caucus locations. All caucus locations will open at 6 p.m. Monday, February 3 and attendees are required to be in line by 7 p.m. to be allowed to caucus.

Those attending will be required to sign-in, which is an important part of the process because a count of people in attendance is necessary to determine viability of a Presidential Preference Group. “Viability” means a Presidential Candidate’s Preference Group must meet a certain threshold number.  For most precincts viability is 15% of the total number of caucus goers in that precinct.  If a Presidential Preference Group is viable, the members of that group may not move to another group.

Only caucus goers in a nonviable (under 15%) Presidential Preference Group  can “realign,” which means move to another Presidential Preference Group or persuade members in other nonviable groups to join them to form a viable group. After realignment, a final count will be taken which is used to apportion delegates to the county convention.

It is the delegate count the presidential candidate receives which is the basis for determining who won the Iowa Caucuses. Following the realignment into presidential preference groups and the electing of delegates, party business will be conducted.

New in 2020 is the fact that Presidential Preference Cards will be used for the first time. Caucus goers will write the name of the candidate they support on this card and sign their own names. Presidential Preference Cards provide a paper trail should a recount be necessary.

Another change is that caucus goers will not be allowed to move out of their Presidential Preference Group if it is viable. Only members of non-viable groups will be allowed to realign during the second and final rounds.  Caucus goers can leave after the first alignment if their candidate is viable and after they turn in their Presidential Preference card (dated and signed). However, all caucus goers are encouraged to remain.

For more information on the Democratic caucuses, visit  www.thecaucuses.org.

ALLAMAKEE REPUBLICANS
Republican candidates for the 2020 presidential nomination include Donald Trump, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld. According to the Allamakee County Republicans, in addition to voting for a presidential candidate, Presidential Year Precinct Caucuses perform the following functions:

1) Elect two persons, Republican residents of the precinct, to serve on the County Central Committee.
2) Elect delegates and alternate delegates to the Allamakee County Republican Convention which is scheduled to be held Saturday, March 14.
3) Propose and vote on platform planks to send to County Convention.

Republican caucus attendees in the city of Waukon are reminded to park their vehicles in the large parking lot between West Elementary School and the Waukon High School/Middle School buildings. Registration for the three Republican caucus locations at Waukon High School will take place in the entrance area of the Waukon High School auditorium, which is accessible directly from the parking lot described above.

For more information on the Republican caucuses, visit https://www.iowagop.org/caucuses.

For the 2020 elections, the State of Iowa has partnered with VoteShield once again to monitor and protect voter data. VoteShield is a secure web application that tracks changes to Iowa’s voter rolls and detects and flags anomalies. Iowa was the first state in the country to utilize the system and it is now available in 17 states.

Every state should consider itself a target for foreign adversaries and bad actors whose possible goal is manipulating voter data. VoteShield is one of the numerous protections in place for Iowa’s voter registration system.

Iowa began utilizing VoteShield prior to the 2018 elections. An updated version was unveiled to Iowa county auditors in November 2019.