What Iowans need to know to participate in the 2024 caucuses

Iowa Republicans will cast their vote for the GOP presidential nominee Monday, kicking off the process for deciding who will run in the 2024 presidential election.

Candidates including former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy spent the final days before the first-in-the-nation contest holding events with Iowans and encouraging people to show up to their precinct caucuses to participate.

Winter weather across Iowa was hampered some caucusing efforts — campaigns canceled some weekend events because of bitter cold and blizzard conditions across much of Iowa. Snow was expected to stop by Monday, but temperatures are predicted to fall between -3 and -14 degrees Fahrenheit.

Caucusgoers planning to weigh in on the GOP presidential nomination must attend their precinct caucuses in person to participate. Iowa Democrats also will hold in-person caucuses on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, alongside Republicans, but no expression of presidential preference will take place at the in-person events. Democrats are holding a mail-in ballot process with results to be announced on Super Tuesday in March.

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said last week that while he expects the weather could keep Iowa Republicans from breaking their record of 186,000 GOP caucusgoers participating in 2016, he believed there would still be “robust” turnout at precinct caucuses Monday evening.

Here’s what Iowans planning to participate in the caucuses need to know:

When and where are the caucuses?

The Iowa caucuses will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15 at precinct locations across the state.

Precinct locations may be different than voters’ typical polling location. To find where party caucuses will take place, Iowans can find the name of their precinct using the Iowa Secretary of State’s website and consult the state parties’ websites to find their caucus precinct. You can find the GOP precinct locations and Democratic precinct locations here.

Party officials recommend participants get to their caucus location early to make sure they are registered and ready to begin at 7 p.m. For the Republican caucuses, participants must attend the in-person event to cast their ballot, with early and absentee voting only available to overseas and military voters.

Iowa Democrats will only discuss party business at the Monday precinct caucuses.

Am I eligible to participate?

Only Iowa voters registered with the party can cast their presidential preference in the Iowa caucuses. Iowans who are not registered to vote, or not registered as a party member for the caucus they want to participate in have the ability to register on caucus night.

To register to vote, Iowans must bring a valid form of ID and proof of residence. Voters are also required to be 18 years old by Nov. 5, election day, in order to register. People already registered to vote must still bring an accepted form of identification in order to caucus. Valid IDs include driver’s licenses, Iowa Voter Identification Cards, military IDs and U.S. passports.

How do the caucuses work?

Iowa Republican precinct caucuses will kick off at 7 p.m., beginning with party business and speeches on behalf of the party’s presidential nominees. Unlike Iowa Democrats’ previous caucus system, presidential preference expression does not involve moving around a room — instead, Republican caucusgoers will choose candidates via secret ballot. Many precincts will have participants write down their candidate of choice on a slip of paper, but caucus locations have printed ballots featuring top candidates and a write-in option.

Iowa Democrats planning to participate in the presidential caucus system do not have to attend the in-person events to participate. Instead, people registered as Iowa Democratic voters can request to be mailed presidential preference cards that are being mailed beginning Friday through Feb. 19.

The state Democratic Party will accept presidential preference cards by mail that are postmarked on or before March 5. The new system — and loss of their place as first-in-the-nation in 2024, are the results of a lengthy process by the Democratic National Committee to restructure the party’s presidential nominating calendar.

Iowans who cast a ballot in the Republican caucuses are not allowed to also participate in the Democratic presidential preference vote.

The DNC designated South Carolina’s primary to kick off the 2024 nominating cycle, but the New Hampshire primary is set to be the first — unsanctioned — Democratic presidential contest on Jan. 23. The South Carolina Democratic primary will take place Feb. 3.

When will we know the results?

State GOP officials announced plans to report results on caucus night using a web-based app. There are designated result reporters at each caucus location who will go through a three-stage process for submitting and recording results. The results will go through an internal verification process by state party staff before the results are available publicly.

While reported results will be available on caucus night, the Iowa Republican Party will not declare an official winner of the Iowa Republican caucuses. The caucus results are used to allocate Iowa’s 40 delegates to support candidates at the July 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Iowa Democrats will not report results until March 5.

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.