State Representative and House Minority Leader Matt Entenza ’83 encouraged students to make the most of the upcoming Minnesota caucuses at a recent on-campus caucus training session.

Organized by the Macalester Democrats, the Feb. 11 training drew more than 50 students to the fourth floor of Old Main. Students listened Entenza describe the state caucus system, the system that the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and other state political parties use to elect delegates to vote for a presidential candidate at the national party conventions.

“The people who are really interested in molding our future go to the caucuses,” Entenza said.

Minnesota is one of a small minority of states that continue to use the caucus system.

More than 20 years ago, while still a student at Macalester, Political Science Professor Chuck Green encouraged Entenza to attend the caucuses for the first time. “I was sitting where you are when I learned about caucuses,” Entenza said.

In the spring of 1982, Entenza and a large contingent of students flooded the local caucus to support Paul Wellstone, then a little-known candidate for State Auditor. Wellstone lost that election, but the campaign was an important step toward his narrow victory in the 1990 U.S. Senate race. Wellstone’s rise started at the caucus level, Entenza said.

“[The caucuses are] a tremendous opportunity to change things,” he said.

According to Green, caucuses help small groups of engaged citizens actually talk to each other. “This is a more intense citizenship,” he said.

Bill Amberg, communications director for the state DFL caucus, said that participation in the Minnesota caucuses is a very inclusive experience, open to all nature of citizens.

“There’s not this entrenched party boss system,” Amberg said.

In 2000, the Minnesota delegation to the Democratic National Convention was the youngest of all 50 states, and had the most representatives of the Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender community, Amberg said. Amberg credited these trends to the caucus system.

“This is real grassroots democracy,” Entenza said.

The Caucus process

The caucus system begins at the precinct level, a small voting district with one dedicated polling location, according to the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. The Macalester campus comprises most of Precinct 7 in Ward 3 of St. Paul.

The precinct caucus is defined by the Minn. Secretary of State as “a public meeting held by each major political party to elect delegates to conventions, to discuss issues and to conduct other party business.”

While Minnesota state statutes fix the time and date at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday in March in every general election year, every party has a separate caucus location, and the location varies from one election cycle to the next.

This year, the DFL will hold its Precinct 7 caucus at Highland Park Junior High. The Independence Party precinct caucus will be at Highland Park High School. The Republican and Green Party caucuses will be held north of campus at Longfellow Elementary School and the Merriam-Park Library, respectively. The Ramsey County web site lists the locations of caucuses for all other precincts in the area.

The caucus begins at 7 p.m. Everyone in attendance receives a Presidential Preference Ballot. The ballot lists the presidential candidates that seek party nomination. The caucus attendants vote for their candidate of choice, and the ballots are collected and sent to the state elections office, where they are counted to determine which candidate “wins” the state of Minnesota.

According to Amberg, this part of the process is very simple. “You can show up and vote for your presidential candidate from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.,” he said.

Eligible voters are those who are qualified to vote in the United States and anyone can observe, according to literature from the Minnesota Secretary of State.

Because the nomination process is distinct from the November elections cycle, students who are registered to vote and plan on voting in another state can still participate in the precinct caucus, Entenza said.

“You can mix it around a little bit,” he said.

Students who have yet to register to vote in Minnesota should arrive early at the caucuses with their student identification card.

After the vote, the caucus must elect delegates who will attend the state senate district caucus, where they will nominate candidates for the state legislature on Mar. 28. These delegates will have the opportunity to be elected again as a delegate to the state party convention in June. From there they may be selected as a representative of the party at one of the national conventions, according to Entenza.

Some students may not think they know enough to be a delegate, said Entenza. “You know plenty…don’t be shy,” he said.

After the presidential preference vote, several precinct officers are elected who serve as officiators for the rest of the caucus. When it comes time to elect delegates, the precinct chair will ask for a show of hands for those interested in serving as a delegate.

If there are enough delegate spots to elect all those who have a hand raised, everyone who wants to will be elected a delegate. Delegates will go to the next caucus level in late March and participate in the state nominations process.

If there are more hands raised than delegate spots available, the caucus will have an election for the delegates. Usually this results in a sub-caucus, Entenza said.

In a sub-caucus, the attendants divide up into smaller groups according to their preferred candidate or an issue. Delegates are then awarded to each group based on their size, Entenza explained.

“If there are a lot of Dean supporters in the room, they will be awarded more delegates than a smaller number of Edwards supporters,” said Entenza. “It’s a math issue.”

But for those who are uncertain about their candidate, it is important to realize that the preference vote is non-binding, and delegates may be elected who are uncommitted, Entenza said.

“There can be an uncommitted, save-the-whales group,” he said.

Delegates are also elected so that as many different demographics as possible are represented within the precinct, Green explained.

“Any person of color becomes a highly desired delegate,” he said.

Green recalled a number of occasions in which candidates were pushed aside in favor of more pressing local issues and said he expects that students will want to use the forum to express their opinions beyond mere candidate selection.

Once in caucus, attendants may discuss issues that are important to them, and begin to set the state party platform. This is done formally through resolutions, which may be passed by a majority of participants at the precinct caucus. Resolutions passed at the precinct level are presented at the senate district caucus for consideration, and if approved by 60 percent of the delegates, may be added at the state party convention to the Minnesota party platform, Entenza said.

“The platform statements are an important symbolic expression,” Green said.

Green said that he anticipates a number of issues will be discussed at the precinct caucus that will be prime subjects for a resolution, including the issue of same-sex marriages.

“If you support someone in particular, or an important issue, make sure you get your friends out [to the caucus],” Entenza said. “Tuesday, [Mar. 2], your whole life can change.”

The number of delegates that may be elected at each precinct caucus vary according to the precinct and the party. There are different formulas used by each party, but all are based on precinct turnout in past elections.

DFL voter participation in Macalester’s precinct is one of the highest in the state, according to John Van Hecke ’85 who works at the state DFL headquarters in St. Paul.

This means that Precinct 7 will elect 43 delegates to the DFL senate district caucus, said Amberg, whereas only three delegates are likely to advance to the Republican caucus from Precinct 7.

The Green Party was unavailable to verify the number of delegates at its precinct caucus. The Independence Party hosts 50 delegates but only has one caucus for all precincts in legislative district 64A, where Macalester campus lies, said a representative of the party.

To help with transportation, members of the Macalester Democrats and other campus organizations, including the Community Service Office, are helping to coordinate rides to and from the various party caucuses.

For more information on caucuses, including off-campus precincts and caucus locations, visit the Ramsey County web site at www.co.ramsey.mn.us/elections/.