Voters in Iowa's 1,874 precincts meet in public buildings and private homes across the state. All registered Democrats including 17 year-olds who will be 18 by the November general election are free to attend. The purpose of the caucus meetings is to elect the precincts' delegates to the county conventions to be held later in the spring.
When the caucus begins, the voters in attendance divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support. The undecided voters congregate into their own group and prepare to be "courted" by supporters of other candidates.
Voters in each group are then invited to give speeches supporting their candidate and trying to persuade others to join their group. Believe it or not, some minds are actually changed during this process.
Caucus organizers then count voters in each group calculate the "viability" of each candidate's group, or the threshold each must meet to win delegates. For example, let's say a precinct's caucus draws 100 voters and that precinct can elect two delegates. To be "viable," a candidate's group must have at least 25 voters (25 percent of the total voters present). Supporters of candidates deemed to be viable, now try to woo voters who supported candidates who failed to make the viability cut.
After all the wooing and debating is over, caucus organizers count the voters in each candidate's group and calculate how many delegates to the county convention each candidate has won. The results are called into a central party counting committee and reported as a percentage of delegates won. For example, one candidate might win 27 percent, another 15 percent, etc.
It is important to remember that the Iowa caucuses are not electing candidates. Rather, they are electing delegates to county conventions. Delegates to the county conventions will then elect delegates to the Democratic National Convention. And, most importantly of all, none of Iowa's delegates to the Democratic National Convention are committed to vote for the candidate chosen in the caucus.
