New rules could cloud Iowa results
WASHINGTON — For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party will report three sets of results from the party’s presidential caucuses. And there is no guarantee that all three will show the same winner.
Each set of results represents a different stage of the caucus. The new rules for the Feb. 3 contest were mandated by the Democratic National Committee in a bid to make the process more transparent.
In the past, Iowa Democrats reported only one set of results: the number of state convention delegates won by each candidate through the caucus process. Democrats choose their party’s eventual White House nominee based on national convention delegates, and the state delegates are used to determine those totals in Iowa.
Now, there will be three sets of results: tallies of the “first alignment” of caucusgoers, their “final alignment” and the total number of State Delegate Equivalents each candidate receives.
Caucuses are different from primaries. In a primary, voters go to the polls, cast their ballots and leave. At a caucus, voters gather at local precincts and declare support for their chosen candidate — then some have an opportunity to switch sides.
In Iowa, voters arriving at their caucus site will fill out a card that lists their first choice. Those results will be tabulated and will determine the results of the “first alignment.”
Caucusgoers whose firstchoice candidate fails to get at least 15% of the vote can switch their support to a different candidate. The threshold can be higher at some precincts. If voters don’t choose another candidate, their vote won’t count in the final alignment. They can choose “uncommitted“— but that choice only gets reported if it, too, gets at least 15% of the vote.
The results of this stage will be tabulated to determine the caucuses’ “final alignment.” Only candidates who receive at least 15% of the vote at that precinct — the socalled viable candidates — will be counted in the final alignment. Nonviable candidates get zero votes in the final alignment.
The final alignment votes are then used to calculate the number of state convention delegates awarded to each candidate.