Democrats in the state are trying to strike a balance between preserving the quaintness of the caucuses — where people literally form into groups in different corners to signify who they support — and making sure that all the 2016 candidates spend time and money campaigning there.

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Absentee ballots: “While this would be an easy way to record someone’s preference on caucus night, we discovered some significant flaws,” said Brennan. “One, the logistical challenges of using these ballots would be difficult in the room on caucus night. Two, these ballots take someone away from participating in the room, and erodes the sense of community that makes our caucuses so special.”

A Skype or Facetime-type system: “One, we could not ensure adequate security for caucus goers. Was the person on the screen truly who they said they were? Two, while Iowa has made tremendous strides, the lack of strong broadband access in rural Iowa simply prohibits us from exploring such a system.”

Proxies: “We were very intrigued by the ideas of proxies, and spent considerable time exploring this idea, but, as we discussed it further, we quickly saw flaws in this idea. One, proxies create super caucus goers. One person’s vote would be worth more than another person’s vote … We determined that challenges would exist around proving that the proxy a person carried was gathered legitimately. We also feared that some folks may choose to give their proxy to one person, but then participate in the Republican caucuses.”

Multiple caucuses throughout the day: “We liked the idea of giving folks a few different options to participate, but again, we could not ensure that people did not choose to participate in our caucus, but then try to participate in the Republican caucuses later in the day.”

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Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/2016-election-iowa-caucuses-109656#ixzz3yTD1rrN7