Iowa Democratic Party Proposes Historic Changes to 2020 Iowa Caucuses

RELEASE: Iowa Democratic Party Proposes Historic Changes to 2020 Iowa Caucuses

Iowans Will Now Have the Opportunity to Participate in “Virtual Caucuses” – Giving More Iowans The Opportunity To Participate In the Caucuses Than Ever Before

30-Day Public Comment Period On Proposed Changes Is Now Open at IowaDemocrats.org

DES MOINES — Today, the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) proposed the most historic changes to the caucus process since its creation in 1972. The IDP will now offer six additional opportunities for people to participate through a series of virtual caucuses, and will streamline realignment and recount procedures. These changes were included in the Iowa Democratic Party’s draft of the 2020 Iowa Delegate Selection Plan, which was released today for 30-days of public comment from Iowans. The Delegate Selection Plans covers the rules governing the Caucuses; the IDP will continue to release information about implementing additional improvements in the coming months.

“The Iowa Democratic Party has always sought ways to improve our caucus process, and today, we are setting the stage for the 2020 Iowa caucuses to be the most accessible, transparent, and successful caucuses in our party’s history,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price. “Starting almost immediately after the 2016 cycle, this party took a holistic look at how we can make the Iowa caucuses more accessible and transparent. These proposals are the result of thousands of hours of conversation and years of hard work.”

Over the last several months, IDP leaders have worked closely with the Democratic National Committee, the State Central Committee and activists to make sweeping changes to the caucus process. Starting today, Iowans have the opportunity to weigh in on the proposed changes during a 30-day public comment period at iowademocrats.org.

“While we will always continue to improve the caucus process, I am confident that with these historic changes, we are giving more Iowans a way to participate in the caucuses, we are increasing transparency and trust, and we are streamlining our process,” Price continued. “We invite Iowans to look at these proposals and give us their feedback so that together we can make the 2020 Iowa Democratic Party caucuses the most successful yet.”

The 2020 Iowa Delegate Selection Plan lays out several historic changes to Iowa’s caucus process, including:

Virtual Caucusing: Over the course of six days, registered Democrats who have signed up with the Iowa Democratic Party will be able to participate in one of six virtual caucuses by phone or smart device. Virtual caucus-goers will be able to rank up to five choices for president. The total result of the six caucuses will account for 10% of Iowa’s caucus delegates.

Streamlined Realignment: Under the IDP proposal, only members of non-viable groups will be allowed to realign in their precinct caucuses. For viable preference groups, their first alignment numbers will be locked and can only increase if members of non-viable groups choose to join.

Recount/Recanvass: Presidential campaigns will be able to ask for a recount of the caucus results either by congressional district or statewide if they can show that the result could affect the allocation of delegates to the national convention. To aid in this effort, presidential preference cards will be used to record what happens in each precinct caucus, while virtual caucus preferences will be recorded electronically and preserved.

Caucus Night Results are Locked: The allocation of national delegates will now be determined by the results on caucus night, not as a result of the convention process.

More Information Released: The IDP plans to release the raw totals from the first alignment, final alignment and the state delegate equivalents earned by each presidential preference group. State delegate equivalents will be used to determine the allocation of national delegates.