January 23, 2010 Iowa Precinct Caucuses

• Caucus Sites
• Participation and Procedure
• Party Contacts

Iowa's precinct caucuses are best known for their first in the nation role in the presidential nomination process.  The parties also hold caucuses in non-presidential years to choose party officers, debate platforms, and conduct other business.  Both official political parties had caucuses at 1 p.m. on January 23, 2010. This was the first time caucuses were held on a weekend day; all previous caucuses were on weekdays in the evening.

The caucuses are a function of the political parties. The Auditor's Office does not conduct the caucuses, report results, or play a direct role.  The parties are required to report caucus locations to our office, and must turn in any voter registrations they receive.

Caucus Sites

Caucus locations are set by the political parties and not by our office. Find your precinct

Because of the weekend date many caucuses were in different locations than previous years.

Caucus Participation and Procedure

To participate in the caucuses, you must be a resident of the precinct, 18 years old as of the general election date (November 2, 2010) and registered to vote with the party whose caucus you attend.  (Note: You must be 17 1/2 years old to register to vote.  If you are under 17 1/2 but will be 18 by November 2, you can still participate in the caucuses.  Your party may have a special form for you to fill out indicating that you will register to vote when you turn 17 1/2.)  Parties may have a youth participation program for persons who will not be 18 by November 2; contact the parties for details.

Caucus participants must actually attend the caucus in the precinct in which they live - there is no absentee voting.  You can register to vote or update your registration on caucus day.  The parties are then responsible for returning the voter registration forms to our office.

Caucus participants discuss issues and candidates, choose party precinct officers, and elect delegates to the party's county convention.  County conventions elect delegates to congressional district and state conventions. Rules and procedures are set by each respective party.

The number of county convention delegates elected from each precinct is determined by each party, based on how many votes the party's candidates received in that precinct in recent elections.

Political Party Contacts

Disclaimer