FITN no matter where

By: Morgan Behrens

As a native New Yorker, when election time comes around, I fill out my absentee ballot while attending school in North Carolina. In all but six states, it is as simple as filling out a form and mailing in my ballot. However, in the remaining six states that continue to hold caucuses, Iowa, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, and Maine, the process of participating in your state’s primary becomes much more complicated. This is an issue that I had truthfully never previously considered. it is an issue, however, that I have dedicated my time to helping while volunteering with the Iowa Democratic Party while here in Iowa.

The way that the party outlines absentee caucusing is that they will provide a satellite caucus wherever there is a demonstrated need for one. This generally means that if there are more than ten people who are committed to caucusing somewhere outside of Iowa, they will provide the materials needed to get their vote to count. In the 2020 election, there are three locations outside of the United States that will be holding satellite caucuses: France, Scotland, and Jordan. Satellite caucuses are also held at multiple other areas within the States for those who have moved away from Iowa but still wish to participate. The definition of a demonstrated need, however, is also extended to include those who are unable to attend the caucus for other reasons.

A prominent issue surrounding voting locations is that they are not open late enough to allow everyone to vote regardless of their work schedules. This becomes more challenging, however, when everyone participating has to be in one space simultaneously for the process to be properly executed. For this reason, there are also several satellite caucuses held throughout Iowa to allow everyone to participate. In preset precincts for the caucus, doors open at 6:30 p.m. and in order to participate, a resident must be in line by 7:00 p.m. This time constraint, if not accounted for, would effectively silence the portion of the population who had to work these hours or were unavailable for a multitude of reasons.

My experiences in the past few days engaging with the caucus have been truly eye-opening. I have seen how truly privileged I am that these are questions that I have never had to consider before — as they have never been an obstacle for me to have my voice heard; working to ensure that everyone, no matter their situation, is able to participate in such a monumental event such as the first caucus of the 2020 election season. Every single box that I stuff with materials is for this very reason: So that every citizen of the great state of Iowa can have their voice heard.