Civic Duty

We do not endorse political candidates. However, we do encourage people to engage in the political processes and carry out their civic duties. If good people do not influence public policy, it leaves us with bad policies. It’s important to:

Register to Vote

If you are not already registered to vote, the following site helps you figure out how to register to vote in Iowa.

https://www.linncountyiowa.gov/380/Register-or-Update-Voter-Registration

Identify Your Precinct, Districts, & Elected Officials

The Linn County Caucus Lookup Tool tends to be the most current tool following redistricting for locating your precinct. This is also useful when trying to identify where and when the next caucus is for your precinct and party.

https://www.linncountyelections.org/caucus/

Under most other circumstances, the Iowa Secretary of State site is usually best for locating your precinct, districts, and elected officials. It may contain old information until it gets close to the time of the first election following redistricting. Redistricting occurs every 10 years following the census that occurs in years ending in zero. It applies to elections in years ending with a two, through the end of the decade.

https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/pollingplace/search.aspx

Attend Your Caucus

A caucus allows political parties to get party business accomplished every two years.

The link in the section above this one helps people find their caucus site within Linn County, Iowa. If you live elsewhere, please seek out a similar resource so you know where to go. Once you fill out the online form, it lets you know your precinct number, the date, time, and location of your precinct caucus, depending on what party you are caucusing with.

Show Up Early: On the day of the caucus, it’s strongly recommended that you show up well before the start of the event, since they can bar you from entering if you arrive late. Consider bringing some cash and a checkbook. If you are at least in line before the start of the event, you should still get in, as long as you don’t leave. But it’s better to get inside before the official start time. So show up closer to the time the doors open.

Presidential Years Only: In a presidential election year, the caucus includes a presidential preference component. People indicate their preferred presidential candidate for their party. Someone may nominate a candidate, and everyone indicates their preference from the nominated candidates. The details of the process differ between parties. All other parts of a caucus occur in every caucus.

Bring Money: The reason for bringing money is at least two-fold. For one, people who wish to attend the county convention can sign up and pay to attend it while they are at the caucus. The parties also raise funds on caucus night, so you can donate money. If you donate above the state’s limit, you’ll need to provide your name and address and the amount donated. This information is due to transparency in campaign contributions. Any candidates that could appear on a future ballot could be gathering signatures to get them onto the ballot. In addition to signing their petition for candidacy, you may donate to their campaigns, as well. The state rules apply for those donations, as well.

Consider Roles: The county convention is one step up from the precinct caucus. There are also district, state, and national conventions. There are committees like the platform committee in which you may indicate interest. Platform committees define the party platform. If everyone who cares about a particular issue avoids such committees, there is no one to make sure the platform reflects the interest of that view. A former presidential candidate recognized that delegates mattered more than the presidential preference vote, and focused on getting delegates who supported him. It worked out great, but it led to a change in the rules in many states to make the vote of delegates reflect the caucus votes more closely. But it still stands that each of these roles are important.

Propose Platform Planks: One other thing that happens at a caucus is the submission of party platform planks. A plank is an individual statement of position, and planks form the overall platform. We’re including some examples platform planks that some people have used in the past:

We support the Protect Life Amendment to the Iowa constitution.
We believe that all human beings, from conception to natural death, have a God given and constitutionally protected right to life, which cannot be infringed.

Vote

Content coming in the future.

Contact Lawmakers

We have a separate page to help you contact lawmakers.

Consider Running for Office

Content coming in the future.