Guide to US caucuses

What

The caucuses provide the first major election year test of US voter sentiment for candidates seeking their party's 2004 presidential nomination.


How

The caucuses are a party grass-roots organising mechanism held at about 2,000 places across the state, typically schools, churches and fire stations where people would ordinarily vote in elections.

During the meeting, participants cast votes for one or more delegates who will go on to county conventions later to begin the process of selecting delegates to next summer's presidential nominating convention.

In most precincts, candidates will need to draw 15 per cent of the caucus-goers or forfeit all of their support. Those supporters will then be free to switch to another candidate.

Eventually votes are taken and tallies are made and reported as numbers reflecting the delegate strength, and thus popularity, of candidates whose names were in play at the caucuses.

It is possible some of the less popular candidates could get no delegates and thus no numbers at all.