Democrats Hope to Speed Caucus Results

[Freddie Stubbs]

DES MOINES, Jan. 18 — Equipped with a new reporting system, the Iowa Democratic Party is planning to provide final results of the state's presidential nominating caucuses by 10 p.m. Central time on Monday.

But the totals will not be of the individual votes that candidates receive. The numbers instead represent the percentage of state convention delegates allotted to candidates based on the level of support received at the 1,993 precinct gatherings.

Those participating are to arrive and sign in at 6:30 p.m. Central time. At 7 p.m., they will begin dividing into "preference groups" according to their presidential choice. Members of groups that do not achieve a certain level — 15 percent of those attending, in most cases — then have 30 minutes to realign with other candidates. The membership of the groups is tallied and, using a mathematical formula, the number of precinct delegates is divided among the candidates. The numbers are then phoned in to the party headquarters.

Democratic officials expect that the automated call-in system will speed the reporting and enhance the reliability of the results. They hope to increase turnout by holding almost all of the meetings in schools and other public buildings. The state party would like to exceed the 125,000 Democrats who took part in 1988.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/politics/campaigns/19PROC.html

[cthrumatrix]

1. I hope it can be audited......

[Walt Starr]

2. Auditing is automatic in a caucus

There are no secret ballots. Everybody's vote is 100% in the open. Everybody at your local precint knows exactly who you are supporting.

[Padraig18]

3. Walt is right--- there is no BBV problem with the caucuses.

It's transparent. :)

[creativelcro]

5. I love that. No doubts about that aspect of the process!

That is a case where the losers can accept the results and move on.

[iowapeacechief]

4. I gather you are concerned...

...about the automated system the Iowa Democratic Party will rely on for gathering results from tonight's caucuses. It is a voicemail setup programmed to recognize each precinct, and I understand it will not accept a caucus report until the information provided matches the number of delegates allotted that precinct (as a precinct chair, I have a PIN code and instructions for the call). The state party chairman claims it's been tested rigorously and there are no worries. As a backup, we will also use the traditional but much slower system of calling reports to county chairs.

The presidential preference reports are supposed to be available in real time at http://www.caucus2004.org/ . As others have pointed out, we'll all be watching our own precinct reports, and we'll know fast if there's any discrepancy.