Exploring the Impact of Caucuses on Voter Accessibility 

High school students would be overjoyed if they had the opportunity to be an intern or a page because those exclusive positions are often restricted to college students. In the middle of my sophomore year, I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to be a page for my county's Republican presidential caucus. As I excitedly discussed my involvement with my friends, I discovered many were unaware of what a caucus was. They asked how a caucus works. I had difficulty explaining the complicated rules about candidate plurality, delegates, and the party platform, which made me consider if less than half of Americans can name all the three branches of government, how many less would be unable to understand the complicated caucus rules? This query lingered in my mind; although, it did not hinder my excitement for the event. 

On Caucus day, I arrived early in the morning in fancy dress clothes, ready to help and learn. Before the caucus proceedings officially started, about 1.5 hours were spent registering a few hundred attendees. During that time, I noticed a majority of the individuals were of an older age. This trend is reciprocal to the well-known Iowa caucus, where young Iowans from 17-29 were only 9% of all caucus-goers, the lowest youth share since 2000. When encouraging others to attend the caucus and exercise their right to vote, I noticed the caucus was at a time and place that made it difficult for service members, caregivers, individuals out of town, students, individuals with disabilities, workers, and others to exercise their right to vote. 

Once everyone was registered, the directions were explained to the remaining individuals. Then, the floor was open for candidate nomination. Nomination requires an individual to publicly appoint a candidate and give a two-minute speech about why the candidate should be voted for in front of hundreds of people. After the candidate's name was read aloud, individuals voting for the candidate were required to stand up. The public process of the Caucus varies from the quiet, private voting at the polls in presidential primaries. The public nature of these caucuses deters attendees from coming because 61% of Americans keep their actual opinions on sensitive political topics to themselves. 

After the presidential voting finished, the party platform and intermissions took another few hours. The caucus spanned from 10am to 2pm, a lengthy four hours. This was another reason individuals hesitated to come out. In fact, for polling voting, in the 2014 midterms, 79% of non-voting people said they had schedule conflicts, were too busy, forgot, were out of town, or were sick. In addition, in 2021, 72% of people believed it was unacceptable to wait for more than 1 hour in voting lines. Another reason for not attending caucuses, especially for youth, was individuals wanted to be more informed before they voted. In addition, all caucuses have varying rules, so the rules described above were related to the presidential primary in Missouri; however, if an individual moves states, the caucus might have different rules. 

These issues beg the question, why are states still holding presidential caucuses instead of presidential primaries? Well, a majority of states do not hold caucuses. During the 2024 election cycle, there were seven Republican caucuses: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, and Wyoming, and three Democratic caucuses: Idaho, Iowa, and Wyoming. In 2020, compared to 2016, 12 democratic caucuses switched to primaries. Out of those 12 primaries, 10 had at least a 2% increase in voter turnout. On the contrary, the two states that remained caucuses had a 0.6% increase in voter turnout or less. 

Displaying these statistics, why have Iowa, Nevada, and other states decided to continue with caucuses? A few reasons are tradition, cost, and political discussion. First, since 1972, the Iowa Republican and Democratic caucuses are the first presidential primary every election cycle. In addition, the Iowa caucus is a well-known springboard for little-known candidates, and the caucus can help indicate the political party's presidential nominee. Second, relating to cost, the Missouri state legislature decided to delegate the fiscal responsibility of the primary elections to the political party. For the Missouri Republican party to save money, they decided to host a caucus instead of a primary. Likewise, in 2020, South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, and Kansas, when Trump became the clear forerunner, decided to cancel their party-run primaries or caucuses to save money and allot funds to spending on campaigning for candidates. In addition, caucuses promote more political discussion and encourage more enthusiastic, active political members to vote. 

Although caucuses have varied advantages, such as saving political parties money and enabling political discussion, caucuses significantly decrease the desire to vote. For younger voters and the general public, the length, lack of privacy, complicated rules, and requirement of physical presence turn off a significant number of voters. 

Staying indifferent by allowing caucuses to continue will result in a decrease in voter turnout. A decrease in voter turnout indicates that the voices of Americans and interest in the political process, vital parts of preserving democracy, will decrease. 

America claims to be the leading democratic republic in the World; however, currently, the United States ranks solely 31st for voter turnout. Making voting more accessible can increase voter engagement and strengthen democracy. Both sides of the political aisle want democracy to thrive. The definition of a thriving democracy is one where voters trust in equal and just voting processes and high voter turnouts are present. A democracy will work better if presidential primaries replace caucuses. Therefore, for voting to be accessible to every individual, as it is the right enshrined in the US Constitution for US citizens, switching away from caucuses, in most cases, will benefit our country. 

Subsequently, how would we overcome the gap to get caucuses switched to primaries? Currently, 39 states accommodate and fund state-run presidential primaries. Therefore, to ensure high voter turnout, states should return or start state-funded primaries because states have the capability to bankroll the primary polling locations where political parties lack the funding. If you are in a state that hosts caucuses where funding is the problem, reach out to your legislator to convince them that state-funded elections will increase voter turnout by citing an article by David de la Fuente that analyzes statistics from the United States Elections Project of University of Florida that states, the “average 2016 primary had turnout about three times greater than the average 2016 caucus”.

If a state decides not to fund a primary and the party is not able to pay for the primary, other policy options to make caucuses more accessible are to allow mail-in voting for caucuses, similar to the first mail-in caucuses held in Iowa for the 2024 presidential primary. The mail-in voting slip would include a first, second, and third choice for president and an option for amendment proposals. Iowa sent out 20,000 mail-in to individuals who requested them and that could have cost about $15,000, according to USPS direct mail. Although sending out mail will cost more than simply hosting a caucus, sending mail-in votes to individuals with a reason will cost substantially less than a primary, for example, the $11 million primary in Virginia. An additional policy option is for the Secretary of State and/or the creator of the party rules to put out entertaining, informational videos about caucus rules and functions through social media and on television news networks. This cost-efficient solution will increase voter knowledge and interest in participating in a caucus. 

Another new policy to make caucuses run efficiently is a nationwide committee. The committee will be composed of these three groups: National Association of Secretaries of State, a nonpartisan organization with key initiatives in voting and elections, rule-writers of party-run caucuses, and the foremost leaders on caucuses. The nationwide advisory committee will put out guidelines to help make caucuses run efficiently, smoothly, and succinctly.

In conclusion, changing from Presidential caucuses to Presidential primaries, with the advice from prior policy options, will positively impact our nation by encouraging voters to utilize their voices, increasing voter accessibility, and increasing voter turnout. 

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