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Only registered Republicans may participate in the caucuses and only in their designated home precincts. EST), and begin with the election of a caucus chair and secretary. The Republican caucuses will convene statewide at 7 p.m. That voting method was a feature of Democratic caucuses from 1972 to 2020 but is no longer in use by either party in 2024. There is no walking around the caucus room to form candidate preference groups. In the past, some caucus sites have pre-printed the names of major candidates and provided a write-in option, but typically, voters vote by writing the name of a candidate on a blank slip of paper. Voters must be given the option to vote for any candidate they choose.

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Individual caucus chairs are allowed to exercise some discretion in how to conduct the vote, but the voting is done by secret ballot and there is no set list of candidates. There are speeches on behalf of various candidates before the voting and a variety of party business after the vote. The binding presidential vote functions essentially like a party-run primary, only with very limited polling hours and no accommodation for absentee voting, except for a tiny handful of overseas and military voters.

There will be two main agenda items at every Republican caucus site: holding a binding vote for the party’s presidential nominee and electing delegates to attend county conventions, which is the next step in the multi-tiered process of electing delegates to attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this summer. How will the Republican caucuses work in 2024? Bush called it after winning the 1980 caucuses) heading into the next contests.

They can also signal to voters in other states, fairly or unfairly, which candidates are possibly on a better footing in the race for the nomination and have momentum (or the “Big Mo” as candidate George H.W. But because of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation placement in the presidential campaign calendar, the caucus results often give a disproportionate boost to the winners and to those who perform strongly or surpass expectations, while often having a winnowing effect on the field by nudging underperforming candidates out of the race. So, in theory, a candidate who performs poorly in Iowa has plenty of opportunities in the remaining states and territories to more than make up the difference. However, Iowa makes up a minuscule share of the total number of Republican delegates nationwide (only 1.6%). There is no minimum threshold required to qualify for delegates. Candidates win national convention delegates in direct proportion to the percentage of the vote they receive. Iowa Republican voters will indicate their picks for the party’s presidential nominee, and the results of that vote will determine how many of the state’s 40 convention delegates each candidate will receive. What’s at stake?įor Democrats, nothing is at stake, since the 2024 caucuses will have no bearing on the presidential race.įor Republicans, there are usually two prizes in the Iowa caucuses: delegates and bragging rights. Iowa Democrats will express their preferences for their party’s presidential nominee through a mail-in voting process, the results of which will not be known until March. In a departure from previous years, the Democratic caucuses will be held only to conduct administrative party business and to start the process of choosing delegates to the national conventions. 15, only the Republican event will have an immediate, binding impact on the presidential race. While both the state Republican and Democratic parties will hold caucuses on Jan. Are both the Republicans and Democrats holding caucuses in Iowa this year?