Why are caucuses and primaries important?
Each of the 51 American states gets to send a certain number of delegates to the Democratic Party and Republican Party conventions in late summer, where each party s presidential candidate is chosen. The primaries and caucuses determine which candidate the delegates vote for. The more voters from a state give their backing to Candidate X, the more delegates supporting Candidate X will be sent from the state to the national convention. What is a caucus? An arcane and weird system of grassroots democracy. The word comes from the Algonquin tribe of Native Americans, meaning a gathering of tribal chiefs . Most states now hold primary elections with registered Republicans and Democrats voting in a secret ballot to pick presidential nominees but not Iowa. What happens at a caucus? Participants, led by a chairperson, indicate their preferences for their party s presidential nomination and pick delegates to their county conventions. Who takes part in the Iowa caucus? Any US citizen who resides
