Aside from being the official start of the election season.
Here are a few descriptions:
- Pew Research Center: What to know about the Iowa caucuses:
(from 2020 - Republicans did not hold a caucus because Republican President Trump was the incumbent) While primaries are run much like general elections – lots of polling places, a secret ballot, many hours to vote – Iowa’s caucuses are more like neighborhood meetings. Starting at 7 p.m. in each of the state’s 1,678 voting precincts (and, new this year, 99 satellite locations in Iowa, around the country and overseas), Democratic voters will gather, debate issues and candidates with each other, and eventually cluster in “preference groups” to elect delegates to their county conventions. The precinct caucuses kick off a process which, several months from now, will result in 41 delegates being chosen to represent Iowa at the Democratic National Convention. The whole caucus process, which can take more than an hour, is nicely illustrated here. Iowa’s Democratic caucuses are open only to registered party members, not unaffiliated voters or those registered as Republicans or with other parties. However, people can register or change their party affiliation on caucus night if they want to participate.
- State Historical Society of Iowa: Caucuses and Elections.
Despite its smaller size and population, Iowa became very important in the election of a U.S. President. Each state has its own process for selecting delegates to national political conventions where the parties nominate their candidates. Iowa uses a caucus system. Members of each party meet together in local meetings called caucuses to select delegates to a county convention that chooses delegates to the district and state conventions. The state conventions are held in June and choose delegates to the national convention. Because the process takes many months, the local caucus has to meet in January or early February to get all the steps done. Because of that timing, the Iowa caucus becomes the first official step anywhere in the nation in selecting a president, and news reporters flock to the state to find out which candidates are ahead.
- Wikipedia:
The Iowa caucuses are quadrennial electoral events for the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections, where registered voters cast ballots at polling places on election day, Iowa caucuses are meetings where voters gather to discuss and select candidates for their registered party. Political parties hold the caucuses, in contrast to most state-run primaries. Both presidential and midterm elections in Iowa use caucuses. The caucuses are also held to select delegates to county conventions and party committees, among other party activities.
- Wikipedia - 2024 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses.
- Wikipedia - 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.
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Useful related terms:
- caucus.
- county conventions.
- delegate.
- national political conventions.
- party committees.
- permanent party organization.
- political convention.
- precinct.
- precinct caucuses.
- presidential preference primary.
- primary election.
- proportional representation.
- registered party members.
- registered voters.
- state political conventions.
- - Texas Democrats.
- - Texas Republicans.
- temporary party organization.
