A week ago I went a-caucusing. That is to say, I went to my local caucus. I’m woefully ignorant of the political process and how my government is run so I decided to do something about it. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what it was when I went, or what I should expect when I got there.

I’m registered as a Republican but I don’t necessarily identify myself as one. Does that make sense? If you asked me to describe myself there are a long list of things that I’d think of to say before I ever got to “Republican.” Besides, I don’t vote along party lines anyway.

The caucus was held at a junior high school near my home. Despite the crowd registering in the main hallway, once we were seated it was apparent the turn out wasn’t all that great. That’s sad for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that it means I, who didn’t even know why I was there, had a (relatively) large say in the outcome of the proceedings.

Think about that.

Once some of the formal proceedings were out of the way (including saying the Pledge of Allegiance which felt awesome because I can’t remember the last time I did that) we divided into groups by precincts (essentially, neighborhoods).

We had a very small group. There were eight of us. (By contrast, my father in-law’s precinct had 50 people in attendance.) Our goal was to choose three delegates (two for county and one for state) as well as a secretary, treasurer and a few other positions.

If someone wanted to run for a position and no one opposed, they got it. If there was more than one person who wanted a position (usually to be a delegate) they gave a short pitch for themselves then the group voted. It turned out there was only one vote for all the positions and that was to be a state delegate.

Delegates decide who ends up on the ballot. As soon as that night was over, the names and contact information of our elected delegates is given to those who have said they want to run for a particular office. Delegates are then contacted/courted by those wanting to run for office right up until the county or state (respectively) conventions where the delegates vote on who gets to be on the ballot.

It’s a pretty important job.

There were a number of times during the precinct elections where I was asked, “Do you want to do that?”  I politely declined. I just didn’t feel right accepting something like that without any clue as to what it meant or what the responsibilities entailed.

At the end of the night I felt like I’d learned a lot and was very satisfied with my (meager) participation. I’d encourage you to attend yours next time it rolls around (check your party’s website for info – I Googled “Utah Republican Party” and found the info I needed.) Or, if you really want to get frisky, check with your party and find out who your delegate is. Offer to go out to lunch with them and find out their views.

Being there also gave me some ideas of what I would do if I were ever a delegate. Most of them which center around transparency:

1. All calls are recorded and put online
2. Any letters, fliers, etc. received in the mail are scanned and put online
3. In-person meetings would be filmed and posted later, or live streamed via a service like Ustream
4. Chocolate milk would come out of drinking fountains on Wednesdays and Fridays

Image courtesy of here.