The Iowa Caucuses, the first primary our country holds, are held on January 3rd. Iowa is cool and all, but their caucus system doesn’t really make a lick of sense. The New York Times, as usual, has a great article about the system. It points out that it’s a little bit flawed; hardly any Iowans even show up for the damn things. Yet, because it is the first state to vote, the Iowa caucuses are hugely influential to the rest of the country.
Anyone who can’t afford a babysitter or has to work at night can’t vote, mainly because they can’t get to a overlong meeting. The Times writes, “In 2000, the last year in which both parties held caucuses, 59,000 Democrats and 87,000 Republicans voted, in a state with 2.9 million people.”
Check out this other excerpt,
“While the Republican caucuses are fairly simple — voters can leave shortly after they declare their preferences — Democratic caucuses can require more time and multiple candidate preferences from participants. They do not conform to the one-person, one-vote rule, because votes are weighted according to a precinct’s past level of participation. Ties can be settled by coin toss or picking names out of a hat.”
Seems a bit high schoolish to me. Maybe all states should decide who is president by picking names out of a hat. Or maybe it’s time for an election overhaul?
Read the rest of the story here.
(via nytimes.com)
