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8/18/2019 Johnson County Democratic Party 2016 Iowa Caucus Retrospective Report
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Johnson County Democratic Party
2016 Iowa Caucus
Retrospective Report April 9, 2016
Prepared by:
David Shafer
Melanie Gross
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2016 Iowa Caucus Retrospective Report
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Summary of Results
2.1. What went well?
2.1.1. Collaboration
2.1.2. Caucus Sites
2.1.3. Volunteers
2.1.4. Training
2.1.5. Materials
2.1.6. Registration
2.2. What could have gone better?
2.2.1. Caucus Sites
2.2.2. Volunteers
2.2.3. Training
2.2.4. Materials
2.2.5. Registration
2.2.6. Process
2.3. How could we improve?
2.3.1. Scheduling
2.3.2. Caucus Sites
2.3.3. Volunteers
2.3.4. Training
2.3.5. Materials
2.3.6. Registration
2.3.7. Process
3. Appendix A — Raw Results
3.1. What went well?
3.2. What could have gone better?
3.3. How can we improve?
4. Appendix B — Attendees
5. Appendix C — Timeline
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1. Introduction
On February 22, 2016, the Johnson County Democratic Party of Johnson County, Iowa, held a
2016 Iowa Caucus Retrospective meeting for the county’s precinct caucus chairs and other
interested persons. The purpose of the meeting was to gather feedback on the 2016 Iowa
Caucuses (held on February 1, 2016), and generate ideas for the future.
The meeting was held from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Iowa City Public Library in Iowa City, Iowa,
with David Shafer and Melanie Gross serving as facilitators. The facilitators sent invitations via
email to all county precinct caucus chairs, and a Facebook event shared with the “JC Dems
Caucus Chairs” private group. The meeting was also advertised on the library’s calendar of
events and open to the public.
There were approximately 33 people in attendance. Attendees divided into 5 groups with
approximately 6–7 people in each group. After introductions, setting expectations and groundrules, the groups were asked to discuss three questions, and then report their results to the
room. The three questions were: “What went well?”, “What could have gone better?”, and “How
can we improve?” Facilitators recorded the results reported by each group.
On March 7, 2016, the facilitators shared a draft of this report with the county’s precinct caucus
chairs through a Google Docs link sent to the “JC Dems Caucus Chairs” private group. The draft
was open for comments until April 9, 2016.
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2. Summary of Results
The facilitators have summarized the results reported by each group and provided additional
explanation below:
2.1. What went well?
2.1.1. Collaboration
● Johnson County Democrats collaborated with Johnson County Republicans early in the
process, and it benefited both parties. The two parties worked together to determine
caucus sites and purchase required newspaper advertising.
● Caucus chairs benefited from working closely with campaigns’ precinct captains, many
of whom volunteered to help with caucus logistics, and also provided additional
volunteers.
2.1.2. Caucus Sites
● Where sites had additional overflow space, they were better able to deal with
unexpected turnout.
● The satellite caucus at Oaknoll retirement community was a welcome addition.
● At some schools, caucus chairs found school employees (particularly custodial staff) to
be helpful resources.
2.1.3. Volunteers● Having more volunteers resulted in a better process.
● Attendees stressed the importance of adequately staffing registration tables.
● Some sites made good use of teen volunteers, even tapping into schools’ “Silver Cord”
programs, which reward students for volunteer activities.
● Some sites had one volunteer dedicated to the task of verifying new registrants’
addresses against the precinct map.
2.1.4. Training
● In-person training sessions helped caucus chairs feel better prepared.● Scheduled tests of the statewide reporting app exposed technical issues in advance and
also helped familiarize caucus chairs with the app.
2.1.5. Materials
● Caucus chairs benefited from preparing additional materials, beyond those provided to
them, for example:
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○ Summary of important points from the precinct caucus chair handbook
○ Pre-numbered index cards to count participants
○ Tickets or cards to identify those participants waiting in line at 7:00 p.m.
2.1.6. Registration
● Some sites began registering attendees as early as 5:30 p.m.
● Having multiple registration lines helped speed up the process.
2.2. What could have gone better?
2.2.1. Caucus Sites
● Many venues were too small for the number of attendees.
● Most caucus sites didn’t have sound systems, and caucus chairs found it difficult to
make themselves heard over the crowds.● At many sites, there wasn’t adequate seating for the elderly and people with mobility
impairments.
● The University of Iowa and Iowa City Community School District were perceived as
being only minimally cooperative. Precinct caucus chairs reported a variety of problems,
such as:
○ refusing to cancel, reschedule, or relocate school events with months of advance
notice
○ refusing to allow the use of rooms that were otherwise empty and available
○ refusing requests for advance scouting
○ refusing access before 6:00 p.m. to set up on caucus night
○ not providing enough tables
● Some sites held caucuses for multiple parties or multiple precincts. At some of those
sites, there was insufficient coordination between the various groups.
● Child care generally wasn’t available at caucus sites.
2.2.2. Volunteers
● Many sites reported they had insufficient volunteers, especially for registration and
sign-in.
2.2.3. Training
● Precinct caucus chairs were uncertain of their authority, for example in working with
caucus sites representatives.
● Many caucus secretaries were recruited at the last minute, and while they were crucial to
the process, they didn’t receive the same training that caucus chairs did.
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2.2.4. Materials
● Most precincts didn’t have enough supplies for the number of attendees (particularly new
voter sign-in forms, new voter registration forms, and observer nametags).
● Many precinct chairs reported the handbook wasn’t organized effectively, and somecreated their own documents to summarize the important details.
● Some sites had inadequate signage, particularly where there were multiple caucuses at
the same location.
2.2.5. Registration
● At some sites, voters began lining up as early as 5:30 p.m.
● Sites didn’t have enough physical space to accommodate the registration process or the
long lines.
● Sign-in forms were large and unwieldy.
● Registered voter sign-in forms included inactive voters.● New voter registrations took up much of the total registration time.
● Sites generally didn’t finish registration by 7:00 p.m. At some sites, registration continued
until at least 8:00 p.m.
2.2.6. Process
● Many caucus participants did not understand the process or what was expected of them.
● Some attendees reported that passing two donation envelopes (one for the county, and
one for the state) was ineffective.
● Nearly all of the voters left before delegate/committee elections, ratification, and platform
discussion.
● Some precinct caucus chairs didn’t know the date of the county convention to share with
potential delegates on caucus night.
● The delegate and committee election process involved long forms with duplicate
recording of information.
● Precinct caucus chairs reported unnecessary duplication of forms, and too much
paperwork generally.
2.3. How could we improve?
2.3.1. Scheduling
● Consider changes to the caucus schedule, for example:
○ Hold caucuses in shifts throughout the day.
○ Hold Democratic caucuses at a different time than Republican caucuses, to
decrease contention for public caucus sites.
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○ Consider whether to change the day of the week caucuses are held, or possibly
align with a holiday.
2.3.2. Caucus Sites
● Aggressively pursue greater commitment from public sites (Iowa City Community SchoolDistrict, University of Iowa):
○ Lobby for legislation requiring greater commitment.
○ Negotiate commitments at higher levels, such as the Iowa Department of
Education.
○ Encourage more public discussion about committing public sites, for example at
school board meetings.
○ Involve Parent Teacher Organizations.
○ Ask the school district to cancel activities district-wide on caucus night.
● Add more satellite caucus sites at senior housing facilities.
● Change the number and size of caucuses:
○ Hold a single caucus for the county, hosted at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
○ Subdivide precincts and hold more, smaller caucuses.
● Ensure caucus chairs at larger precincts have tools to make themselves heard over the
crowds (sound system, bullhorn, etc.).
2.3.3. Volunteers
● Increase recruitment of volunteers generally.
● Allow volunteers to participate in precincts other than their own; don’t penalize
volunteers for helping another precinct.
● Involve poll workers as volunteers, because they have experience with voter registration.● Distribute the responsibilities of the county caucus chair, for example with regional
assistants, or a county caucus committee.
● Organize child care and transportation.
2.3.4. Training
● Train all volunteers, including precinct caucus chairs and secretaries.
● Train volunteers for crowd control, extreme situations and contingency planning.
● Train precinct caucus chairs and secretaries on recording information accurately.
2.3.5. Materials
● Provide more copies of all forms.
● Provide consolidated lists of all voters in the precinct/county, with party affiliation, to help
resolve registration questions.
● Post more, larger signs.
○ Identify registration lines
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○ Distinguish multiple caucuses at the same location
○ Ensure voters are at the correct location
● Provide precinct caucus chairs with example diagrams of caucus site setup.
● Reorganize the precinct caucus chair handbook to improve usability, including a concise,
step-by-step summary.
● Provide a poster with meeting dates and times: convention committees; centralcommittee; and county, district, and state conventions.
● Provide handouts to participants to explain the process and their responsibilities.
2.3.6. Registration
● Provide consolidated voter lists for the precinct/county, allowing volunteers to quickly
confirm whether an attendee is registered in the precinct/county, or for another party,
and direct the attendee to the appropriate registration or sign-in line, or alternate
location.
● Streamline registration and sign-in when the voter is simply changing party affiliation,
since these account for most of the caucus night registrations.
● Make better use of technology.
○ Encourage online voter registration in the months before the caucuses.
○ Consider using computers at precinct caucus sites to verify voter registration or
caucus location.
○ Consider other ways to streamline registration and sign-in using technology.
2.3.7. Process
● Improve counting procedure, for example:
○ Distribute pre-numbered cards to all participants. This establishes the totalparticipant count and viability threshold.
○ Then, during initial alignment and realignment phases, only count preference
groups up to the viability threshold ; it’s not necessary to know the full count of
each preference group yet.
○ Once all of the groups are viable, then have preference group chairs collect and
count the numbered cards, and turn the cards over to the caucus chair. This
determines the final count for each preference group.
● Don’t vote on platform resolutions individually; use Colorado as an example for the
platform process.
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3. Appendix A — Raw Results
The raw results shared by each group appear below:
3.1. What went well?
1. Re-writing summary (chair agenda)
2. Precinct captains as volunteers
3. Numbered index cards
4. Volunteers
5. Good relations with school employees
6. Reporting app
7. Training opportunities
8. Start sign-in early
9. PDF signs10. Red index cards to handout to end of line at 7:00 p.m.
11. Multiple lines for registration
12. Overflow room
13. Satellite caucus
14. Returned materials
15. App testing before caucus night
16. Collaborating with Republicans
17. Teens as volunteers (parking, too; “silver cord”)
18. Sites were accommodating
19. Collaboration with campaign captains20. Extra registration forms and separate lines
21. Dedicated volunteer with precinct map for new registrations
22. Over-staff sign-in
3.2. What could have gone better?
1. Lines - more resources
2. Registration lists included inactive voters
3. Size of registration list forms
4. Need sound systems5. Nomination forms just took up space
6. Not enough supplies from IDP
7. More seating
8. Lack of support from the University of Iowa and the Iowa City Community School District
9. Better coordination at shared sites
10. Prepare for sign-in early (5:30?)
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11. Better signage (direct to other locations)
12. Clarify responsibility/authority of chair
13. Secretary recruitment/training
14. Delegate/committee elections (long forms, everyone bails)
15. Venue size, layout
16. More time for new voter registration17. Less duplication of forms
18. Child care
19. Streamline handbook
20. Reduce paperwork
21. Large agenda
22. School conflicts
23. Computers to verify locations
24. Two donation envelopes
25. Caucus-goer expectations
26. Poster with dates of conventions
3.3. How can we improve?
1. Large signs
2. Better use of technology
3. Caucus set-up diagrams (picture)
4. Note cards numbered
5. Only collect cards after 1st round (1st round is just for viability)
6. Involve poll workers
7. Chair/secretary8. Training for “all hell breaking loose” scenarios
9. Carver Hawkeye Arena for all precincts
10. Electronic registration (party changes)
11. Sound system
12. Smaller precincts
13. Different night for Democrats and Republicans
14. Separate entrances for different sites
15. Summary sheet in manual
16. Committee meeting schedule
17. County envelope before state18. Accessibility needs identified
19. Caucus chairs record information accurately
20. Identify “regional” county representatives for questions/packet gathering
21. Law mandate for public sites
22. Churches as sites
23. Satellite caucuses in every senior housing facility
24. Change day of the week
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25. Phases during the day (Group A 6-7 p.m., Group B 7-8 p.m., etc.)
26. Platform - move forward
27. Childcare and transportation
28. Day of the week, holiday?
29. Literature to explain caucuses
30. Heavy recruitment of volunteers31. Get statewide feedback
32. Platform like Colorado caucus
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4. Appendix B — Attendees
Attendees who signed in at the caucus retrospective meeting are listed below.
Name Precinct / Role
Jeff Barton Coralville 04
Pat Bauer University Heights
Tom Carsner Iowa City 17
Carl Christiansen Iowa City 13
Ed Cranston Penn
Martha Ann Crawford Washington Township
John Deeth Iowa City 11
Caroline Dieterle Iowa City 18
Karen Disbrow Iowa City 18
Amy Green Fremont/Lone Tree
Melanie Gross Coralville 02
Martha Hedberg Chair, Johnson County Democrats
Melva Hughes Affirmative Action Chair, Johnson County Democrats; Iowa City 06
Carol Hustad Jefferson/Monroe East, Shueyville
Robert Hustad Jefferson/Monroe East, Shueyville
Mike Jesse North Liberty 02
Beverly Jones Iowa City 04
Douglas Jones Iowa City 04
Maher Josephson Iowa City 10
Teresa Kelly West Lucas
Sharon McDonald Iowa City 07
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Curt Moore Penn
Jennifer Patel Coralville 01
Judy Pfohl Iowa City 09
Nancy Porter Iowa City 01
Dennis Roseman Iowa City 16
Robin Roseman Iowa City 16
Linda Schreiber Iowa City 07
David Shafer Iowa City 07
Vicki Siefers Coralville 02
Jim Tate First Vice Chair, Johnson County Democrats
Pauline Taylor Iowa City 02
Lauren Whitehead Solon
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5. Appendix C — Timeline
February 1, 2016 2016 Iowa Caucuses
February 9, 2016 Meeting invitation sent to precinct caucus chairs
February 22, 2016 Caucus retrospective meeting
March 7 – April 9, 2016 Draft report open for comments
April 9, 2016 Final report released
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