The Iowa Caucus
Countdown to the Kickoff of the 2016 Presidential Race

January 7, 2016 - In less than a month, all the theatrics of the political preseason come to an end and the theatrics of the political regular season begin. On February 1, Republicans and Democrats will go to their caucus sites in Iowa and cast the first votes of the year. But just what is a caucus? How is it different from the regular elections that we're familiar with? Below is a brief explanation on how the different parties play their game. The rules differ slightly, but their intention is the same: determine who will serve as party delegates to represent their party and state. The only other thing they have in common is that the media will report who "won" the caucus sometime in the evening of February 1. In point of fact, the winner won't actually be determined for months, as a caucus race is a labyrinthine procedural marathon that stretches all the way to the party conventions in the summer.

If you'd like to know more, this month's Ballotball Podcast covers the election in more depth and can be heard here (find out why the Vietnam War and a lack of hotels in Des Moines is why Iowa always gets to go first every election season).

Phase 1 - The Precinct Caucuses (1700+ statewide)

February 1, 2016 at 7pm - Democratic voters arrive at one of the 1,681 precincts across Iowa. They separate into groups based on which candidate they support. 

The example below shows a theoretical precinct of 100 voters choosing between Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, and Hillary Clinton.
Once voters have gotten into separate groups, the party chairperson counts them.
Since Martin O'Malley's support in this scenario is less than 15% of the vote, his candidacy is considered "non-viable." His supporters must choose a different candidate.


​
Let's say that the O'Malley supporters go to Clinton; another count is taken and reveals that Clinton is now in the lead. 
In this example, this precinct is in charge of sending 4 delegates on to the next phase of the caucus. Since the race was so close, the delegates are split evenly and both the Sanders' supporters and the Clinton supporters choose two of their own members to become party delegates. These four people will continue on to the next phase of the caucus, but the media will now report on who has "won" the Iowa caucus. 
February 1, 2016 at 7pm - Republican voters arrive at one of the 1700+ precincts across Iowa. They discuss which candidates they are supporting and the party chairperson allows people to give speeches endorsing their chosen candidate. 

​

​When the speeches have concluded, the voters submit their votes (via secret ballot) for who they think should be the Republican candidate for president. 

​




​With the voting completed, the party chairperson counts them and reports the results to the state party office. These numbers are combined with all the other precincts to come up with the final vote. At this point, the media is free to declare a "winner", and that candidate usually gets a burst of momentum as the campaign season continues on to New Hampshire. In reality, the caucus is just getting started.
  


​Once the precinct has completed voting for the presidential candidates, the 100 voters have another vote--now they will decide which 4 of them will serve as delegates and move on to the next phase of the caucus. 

Phase 2 - The County Conventions (99 statewide)

March 12, 2016 - ​The delegates from the precincts arrive at the county convention and repeat their same process again. Based on the results of the vote, more delegates are chosen to move onto the next phase.
March 12, 2016 - The delegates chosen in the precincts arrive at the county convention and cast another vote--this time, however, they only vote for delegates (not for presidential candidates).

Phase 3 - The District Conventions (4 statewide)

April 30, 2016 - The delegates selected at the 99 county conventions arrive at one of the 4 district conventions to repeat their same process again. More delegates are chosen to move on to the state convention. 
April 9, 2016 - The delegates selected at the 99 county conventions arrive at one of the 4 district conventions to repeat their same process again. More delegates are chosen to move on to the state convention. 

Phase 4 - The State Convention

June 18, 2016 at 9am - The Democrats play their game one more time, and final delegates are selected to go to the national convention. Iowa Democrats will send 52 delegates to the national convention in total (including 7 delegates that never participated in the caucus at all but are party officials plus 1 member of Congress).
May 21, 2016 - The Republicans must now finalize who their 30 delegates to the national convention will be. 3 delegates from each district are chosen, 12 in total. 15 more delegates are chosen irrespective of which district they come from (at-large delegates). Finally, 3 party officials (a committeeman, a committeewoman, and the state party chairman) also become delegates.
With the state conventions concluding, the Iowa caucus is now over. The national delegates attend their national party conventions and formally elect a nominee for president. However, a lot can change between the time the voters go to their precincts and the time the balloons fall from the rafters on convention night. In the intervening months, many of these delegates may change their minds about who they want to support. For example, in 2012, Rick Santorum received the most votes from the Republicans in the precinct elections in Iowa, narrowly beating Mitt Romney. However, somewhere between the precincts and the state convention, the delegates decided they wanted to go in a different direction--at the national convention that summer, former libertarian Ron Paul received 22 of Iowa's 28 delegates (Romney picked up the other 6).

Confused at how Ron Paul could win the Iowa caucus without getting the most support from Iowa's Republican voters? Download and listen to the new Ballotball Podcast for a full explanation here.