Democratic panel would expand Iowans’ ability to caucus

A committee reviewing Iowa's Democratic presidential caucuses is recommending that people who can't make it to a caucus site still be allowed to cast a vote.

The move is aimed at widening participation in the leadoff event to the presidential nominating process.

The committee was formed in the aftermath of the historically close 2016 Democratic caucuses, when Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders. After the caucuses, several complaints about the process arose. Afterward, then-Iowa Democratic Party Chair Andy McGuire appointed the committee.

The state party hasn't taken any action on the recommendation. A report has been presented to the party, but an official there said that it likely wouldn't be taken up until September.

The report also comes amid the Democratic National Committee's own deliberations over the primary process through the Unity Reform Commission it created last year. Members of that commission most recently met last month.

The Iowa committee's report contains several suggestions, but the recommendation that would allow Iowans to take part in a caucus without actually showing up at a specific place would be a significant change.

Critics of the caucuses have long complained about low participation, particularly compared with primaries. But Iowa's political leaders, in both parties, have always been careful to structure the caucuses so they are distinct from a primary. New Hampshire is the first primary state in the nation, and it has aggressively guarded that spot.

'We think we threaded this needle,” said Dave Nagle, the former congressman who chaired the panel.

The report recommends that the party create a 'non-present participation” process that would allow people to take part in the caucuses after showing need, such as having a work shift that conflicts with the time of the caucuses, having a child care issue or being homebound. Each county would have a precinct that includes those people who weren't present.

The report also recommends the state party study integrating the precincts into apportioning delegates, but it also noted it would be 'as part of a broader study of delegate math formulas, with an emphasis on making the delegate apportionment more reflective of caucus-night participation.”

The report did not specifically make recommendations on whether to change how the Democrats determine who wins the caucuses. Unlike the Republican Party, which uses a straw poll, the Iowa Democratic Party has a process that utilizes a complex mathematical formula to allocate 'state delegate equivalents” to candidates running for president.

It also did not make a recommendation on whether vote totals that go into determining how delegate equivalents are allocated should be released. The Sanders camp, in particular, called for that after the 2016 caucuses.

The report did suggest better technology to update voter registration lists in order to eliminate lines on caucus night and finding a way to locate adequate buildings for the caucuses.

Recent caucuses, notably in 2008 and 2016, the two highest-attended Democratic caucuses in history, drew complaints about overcrowding at some caucus sites.

The report also suggested creating a nonprofit that could raise money for the caucuses. The state parties allocate money for the caucuses, but as committee members have noted, it's volunteers in both parties who run the hundreds of caucus sites across the state.

David Oman, a longtime Republican figure in the state who appeared before the committee, said the GOP is interested in the idea of a nonprofit and discussions will take place this summer.

'We'll see where that goes,” he said.