Understanding the Presidential election caucus process

From now until it is time to have the national conventions for each political party, there will be a series of various types of caucuses and primaries. There will also be several debates for Republicans which will impact each candidate’s standings. The results of these will determine who will be the nominee for each political party. As these progress throughout the remaining part of this year and up to the Republican National Convention, the focus of reporting will depend upon how each media source wants to cover a specific candidate, caucus or debate. The Democratic convention is currently scheduled for September 2012 and the Republican convention the week before between August 27-30, 2012. The election caucus process is something that I feel most Americans do not understand except those who live in the states which have them.

One of the interesting points when examining the schedule for the caucuses and primaries is that they are not necessarily scheduled at the same time. In addition, there are some exceptions with regards to the type of election activity to be held for each political party. An example can be seen in the state of Kansas. The Democratic Party has established local unit conventions, district conventions and a state convention while the Republican Party has caucuses and a state party committee meeting.

The number of delegates for each party varies to some extent. Both political party delegate counts include the number of Governors, U.S. House Seats and U.S. Senate Seats. The Democratic Party delegate counts also include the number of DNC members and are those who are serving at the time of the Convention. The Republican delegate count also includes the number of Republicans elected to state legislatures. In this respect, with the number of elected Republicans in Governor Positions and in state legislatures, there appears to be an increase in the number of delegates up for candidates to earn. The total of these categories for Republicans are the numbers in effect at the end of 2011. The distribution of the votes for each candidate also varies dependent upon the rules in each state.

In discussing the caucus process it is important to understand the various types of caucuses.

The types of caucuses include precinct, House District, Territorial, Pre-Primary, County, Municipal, Senate District and State legislative District caucuses. As you can see, there is a wide disparity of different types of election caucuses that will be used throughout the remaining months before each of the National Conventions for each political party. Each of these types has different rules with regards to who can participate. The type of caucus identified above clearly identifies the limitations for the area covered.

The term caucus is not new, as it has been a part of our history for years, but many do not know what the term represents. It is basically a meeting of local members of a political party especially to select delegates to a convention or register preferences for candidates running for office. Caucuses can also be closed meetings within a legislative body to decide on questions of policy or leadership. With regards to the number of states in existence, there are only twelve states which specifically use the caucus process. Some states also use county or state conventions which could also be considered a caucus. Adding these states increases the number of states participating in the caucus process.

In summary, it appears that the only understanding of the caucus process that most voters will receive, other than this article, is through media coverage given to each as they draw closer. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, but we must remember that in all matters of information being received, the source must be evaluated for accuracy and reliability. In evaluating the caucus process, it appears there are varying rules as to how each are structured and how the delegates associated with each are determined. While I somewhat understand the caucus concept, it would be beneficial if the caucus process for both political parties would be streamlined. This would not only provide consistent rules, but it would also help the public understand what the results of a caucus represent. There should be no difference between a caucus from one state to another. It could not be determined who makes the decision to have a caucus or a primary at this point. If it is the states, they need to develop some consistency between the other states that use the caucus process. In this respect it may be difficult, but I believe each political party has enough influence to get this accomplished. If the political parties make the decision, they need to come to some consistency between the political parties to streamline and overall improve the entire caucus process.

The election process leading to a Presidential election should be understood by every individual eligible to vote. The manner in which the results of each caucus held is also confusing to some extent and should be clarified by each political party, not by the media. Each party needs to take ownership of their own caucus process and provide detailed information in helping the public understand the approach taken by each party and why they have chosen such a process. Regardless, whether there develops some consistency between the political parties or they take ownership in their process, the public needs to better understand the process and what the results mean for each type conducted.