Caucuses in Minnesota

[Stiganator]

Does each state choose whether to have a primary or a caucus?

In Minnesota, the caucuses opened at 7pm and only went until 8pm. I think that should be changed. I talked to several people who said they just didn't have time. Why can't they have voting open from 8am-8pm or some such?

 

[CallMeJoe]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
Does each state choose whether to have a primary or a caucus?

Yes.

In Minnesota, the caucuses opened at 7pm and only went until 8pm. I think that should be changed. I talked to several people who said they just didn't have time. Why can't they have voting open from 8am-8pm or some such?

Talk to your state legislators.

 

[Jadow]

is it the state legislatures or the political parties in each state? I think each party has a fair amount of freedom to do what they want.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Originally posted by: Jadow
is it the state legislatures or the political parties in each state? I think each party has a fair amount of freedom to do what they want.

Right. I may have posted without thinking (which some will say is not unusual ).

 

[FoBoT]

caucuses don't work like that, you have to stay the whole time
only voting/primaries can be all day deals

you have to be dedicated to show up for that time slot/hour if you want to participate in a caucus state

in a way , it relies more on the truly committed peoples to pick the candidate

but each state can select their method and change if they want to

 

[Genx87]

I believe the delegates in MN are non-binding. That may have something to do with the shortness of the polls.

 

[0roo0roo]

yup, caucus's are an undemocratic joke. its voter suppression. democrats should be embarrassed they let this system last so long.

christopher hitchens explains
http://www.slate.com/id/2181008/

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
yup, caucus's are an undemocratic joke. its voter suppression. democrats should be embarrassed they let this system last so long.

christopher hitchens explains
http://www.slate.com/id/2181008/

only a handful states have real caucuses. For the north dakota caucus you show up, mark a ballot and leave, just like any other election, and very unlike iowa.

As for the real caucuses, they don't seem to be that bad a deal, and your article is really more about the fact that fucking iowa of all places gets to decide the direction of the contest. He didn't say anything concrete or objective that i caught about caucuses being bad or antidemocratic.

 

[yuppiejr]

I thought our local caucus (Blaine) was great, we elected district/precinct officers and delegates, cast our presidential straw-poll votes and then discussed and voted on a number of resolutions for consideration by the local Republican party. Most of the initial slowness and lines had to do with people not knowing what district/precinct they belonged to - once people got sorted out and herded into the appropriate (vastly overcrowded) classrooms in our local HS things went off without a hitch. The response totally overwhelmed the available volunteers from the party but it's good to see the usually laid back conservative crowd finally getting involved in the political process again.

People can bitch about the caucus and overall political process all they want, if you're not willing to commit time and energy to change something you don't like in government by getting involved at the local or national level you really have no place whining about how things work. I happen to disagree with the Republican party's departure from it's supposedly conservative base of values and decided to do something about it besides bitching on internet forums by getting involved as chair and a delegate in my district. It's pretty much the lowest rung on the ladder of political influence but it allows a degree of influence over our state's choice of presidential candidates and party platform which is a good start.

 

[Stiganator]

It's not a matter of people not taking the time, it's a matter of only being provided only 1 hour. I believe a Presidential vote should have minimum 12 hour open door and preferably 24hr. People who work at night got the shaft, such as my brother who works 2pm-2am.

 

[Thump553]

I really dislike the caucus system. It's a way of focusing political power in the politically active portion of the population. Having to attend a meeting (pssibly several hours) and publically announce your position, in front of your neighbors, local politicians and maybe even your boss) is bad practice. To me the whole setup is very undemocratic (with a small "d").

 

[yuppiejr]

Originally posted by: Thump553
I really dislike the caucus system. It's a way of focusing political power in the politically active portion of the population. Having to attend a meeting (pssibly several hours) and publically announce your position, in front of your neighbors, local politicians and maybe even your boss) is bad practice. To me the whole setup is very undemocratic (with a small "d").

I felt this was an important time to be involved in the political process so I sacrificed time with my family and shuffled plans after work to participate. If either of you really cared enough to get involved, you'd make time - not excuses for why you could not attend. Also, the presidential straw poll vote is by secret ballot (this is a MN law actually) and there is no obligation to say anything about your personal beliefs in order to participate.

If you don't like the caucus system it is certainly your right to get involved in your political party and propose a change. Bitching about it here is pretty much just pointless bitching... But it's certainly your right to do so but it's also the right of the politically involved folks out there to change things to operate the way they like it.

 

[Thump553]

From your reply, yuppiejr, it sounds like Minnesota has a better caucus system than others. I know for certain both Nevada and Iowa involve physically standing in a section of a room to signify your support of a candidate. And if your candidate doesn't meat the threshold level, then it is encouraged and expected that other in the room will try to persuade to switch to their side.That is one reason why the groups allied with Hillary tried to get the caucus places taken out of the casino, so voters wouldn't have to publically declare their opposition to the candidate supported by their union. Its a good system for picking teams for a dodgeball game but not for selecting our President.

I'm with you on being politically active, and I personally spend at least 100 hours a year doing politically volunteer work, but I don't think that should be a requirement.