Today Iowa Voters Are Participating in the Caucus From Around the World, Including the Bay Area

All eyes are on Iowa Monday as voters throughout the state gather to choose their party’s presidential nominee. And for the first time, Democratic Iowans who live outside of the state will still be able to participate — via satellite caucus sites.

This year, there are 90 sites across the United States and even abroad approved by the Iowa Democratic Party.

That includes two satellite sites in California, with one at the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, where Iowan voters will caucus at 5 p.m.

“People from Iowa are really excited, it's kind of hilarious,” said Ahmi Dhuna, a Stanford graduate student studying sustainability.

Dhuna is one of two students who organized a caucus site on campus. After their caucus adjourns, she said participants will head to a campus restaurant to watch how the rest of the night unfolds in Iowa.

“Iowans take their votes really seriously because we are first in the nation," she said. "We kind of get the momentum going for the primary season."

Accessibility to caucuses has been a long-running issue even for voters who live in Iowa. Participants are required to be physically present at a specific time and location. The process could take hours and be a challenge for those who don’t have a consistent work schedule or reliable child care.

For those registered to vote in Iowa but living out of state, like college students, caucusing is nearly impossible.

Dhuna, who is from Burlington, Iowa, said she wanted to caucus in the 2016 election, but she was attending school at Stanford. She said it was not feasible to fly home and back in time for classes.

And while she can still vote in the general election, being part of a caucus is a unique experience.

“[A] caucus is a very in-person, experiential kind of process,” Dhuna said.

In November, she learned she could apply with the Iowa Democratic Party to organize a satellite caucus site.

At the same time, Nova Meurice, a junior studying comparative literature at Stanford, applied to bring a caucus site to campus. Iowa party officials asked the two to combine forces.

Meurice observed a caucus in 2016, but wasn't able to participate because she was too young. She knew she wanted to caucus this year and even contemplated buying a plane ticket just to be part of the process. She said it's important for young people to let their voices be heard during elections.

"As the people who are inhabiting this world for the next several decades at least ... it's important that we're influencing the world," Meurice said.

About 35 to 40 voters are expected to caucus at Stanford on Monday and most will be students.

“There's a big push throughout this whole Democratic primary season of young people needing to get out the vote and really exercise democracy,” Dhuna said. “I think that the fact that we are privileged enough to have this opportunity here on campus is not taken lightly by Iowa's students.”

Mike Burns, national director of Campus Vote Project, a group that works to improve student voter turnout, says it's especially important to make the process smoother for those who are voting for the first time.

"The folks who are in that youth vote are different every election cycle, so making sure that each new cohort of young people moving through has that same type of positive experience hopefully puts them on a track where they feel like [being a] voter is a really important opportunity," Burns said.

Caucusing is complex and can take several hours. Dhuna and Meurice will lead the gathering as chair and secretary, respectively. They will count the attendees and determine a viability threshold, which is the number of supporters a candidate needs to be considered “viable.”

During an alignment period, participants gather under signs posted throughout the room to show their support for a particular candidate. When the alignment period closes, a count will determine which candidates are no longer viable due to lack of support.

Those in a group that's no longer viable can join viable groups or come together to create a viable group.

“The people in viable groups can have conversations about why they think they should join their group or support their candidate, which is kind of really special," Dhuna said. "It's so participatory and conversational ... I don't think any other voting system is quite like that.”

Meurice said the caucus she observed in Iowa when she was younger was chaotic, with hundreds of people milling around a school gym.

"There are a lot of discussions between people. I could see my parents talking to our neighbors and family friends about who they were voting for and why they're making their decisions," she said. "It was a pretty interesting, direct look at democracy ... it doesn't get a whole lot more direct, in a literal sense, than the caucus does.

Representatives from the candidates are also expected to make a short pitch to participants at the beginning of the process.

Candidates will be awarded state delegates for the National Democratic Convention based on how much support they received during the caucus.

While Monday’s caucus is only for those registered to vote in Iowa, Dhuna said the process could get Californian voters talking about their own upcoming primary election on March 3.

“Maybe use this opportunity, the Iowa caucus, to start learning more about the candidates and start getting yourselves registered," Dhuna said. "Realize that your vote really matters, no matter where you are."

The Feb. 3 caucus is open to observation by members of the public.