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

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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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



3.3. 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:


2.1.1. 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.


2.2.1. 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:


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


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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Johnson County Democratic Party 2016 Iowa Caucus Retrospective Report

Documents

Transcript of Johnson County Democratic Party 2016 Iowa Caucus Retrospective Report