FWD BLOG: #IowaCaucusRIP — The Democratic Party debacle is why our primary process requires reforms like “Instant Runoff” Voting.

“I am not a member of any organized party. I’m a Democrat.” — Will Rogers

The disaster in Iowa is hard to comprehend but we kind of saw it coming.

There were stories about concerns with the Iowa Caucus app two weeks ago.

But that’s not the big issue. It’s that there was no Plan A or Plan B.

Apparently the app wasn’t properly tested and its obvious that old-school inventions like the “spreadsheet” were not properly included so we had something to fall back on. Iowa Dems failed the MATH Test.

HOW MY CAUCUS FAILED:

There are numerous stories of how poorly the caucus is run on the ground too.

As a representative of a campaign in the DC-area I interacted with the party and a couple “satellite caucus” chairs beforehand. There were red flags already as it seemed like the information available on the rules weren’t available until the last minute and caucus chairs had the discretion to “customize” the mystery rules as well. Like alllowing speeches but cutting them down to 30-seconds.

This led to confusion at the caucus….for those who could find it!

The DC Caucus Location was moved at the last-minute which piles on top of other reports of changed venues in the final week. There might have been a legitimate reason, but I find it hard to believe that the Marriott-Wardman Park could not accommodate the 100? people inside the DC Caucus! The room we used was barely big enough for your typical conference panel discussion.

Adding to my concern was my email to the DC Caucus Chair at 2:24pm ET asking if the voters were notified by phone or email. Which was easily possible since they were required to register in advance for the satellite caucus.

THE PROBLEM: IOWA’S CAUCUS SYSTEM.

Although I support the concept of a “caucus” where an underdog campaign can strategically out-organize the frontrunner to show its strength (i.e. Barack Obama), the Democratic Party must modernize these events or scrap them all together. When you build a flawed system you get flawed results.

I will discuss the reasons why democratic party committee might create a flawed system and how we can fix that on another day. But after 2016, the DNC Unity Reform Commission brought Hillary and Bernie sides together to add transparency and expand participation in the primary process that had an impact on the caucus.

For some reason I saw a Democrat on Facebook blame Bernie Sanders for the app debacle because of this year’s transparency reforms which require the party to simply “show their work” when announcing their calculations by including the Raw Vote not just the state delegate equivalents.

It didn’t require an app. It could have been done on paper with the help of some screenshots and google forms.

The biggest mistake was probably trying to patch some holes in the Titanic while it was sinking. Trying to fix it was a compromise.

THE SOLUTION: AN “INSTANT RUNOFF” CAUCUS.

Regardless of who is to blame for Iowa, the Democratic Party needs to modernize how it hold caucuses — which must occur when a full primary isn’t possible in the cases of special elections and non-partisan elections where the party wants to offer an official endorsement.

In Arlington, Virginia, the Arlington Democrats host school board caucuses every year but they do it much different than in Iowa.

Instead of standing in corners and getting lobbied by a bunch of people in between voting rounds, you just cast your vote and leave. So, it is just like a normal election but the format is commonly described as a “firehouse primary” because it takes place in one big community building not in every precinct like in a more expensive primary or general election. And they also offer “early voting” dates which can increase turnout.

So, although it works like a normal election, in Arlington you get the benefit of a caucus system by choosing your secondary choices with Ranked Choice Voting or an “Instant Runoff.”

You simply mark down your candidates in order of your preference and if your top choice comes in last then your vote goes to your second choice then third choice etc. until the leading candidate has a 50%+1 to ensure victory.

Forunately, Democrats are pushing for RCV Bills in the Virginia State House that would give localities the freedom to run “instant runoff” elections.

Using RCV in all elections would be a huge asset to general elections in states like Louisiana and Georgia who force their voters to show up twice when the leading candidate gets less than 50%+1 of the vote. And course, it would prevent the distorted results from spoilers in presidential races like seen in 2000 and 2016.

DNC Chair Tom Perez is a big fan of it as it is was used in Maine in 2018 and helped Democrats win a congressional seat.

2020 Candidate Andrew Yang is a big believer in empowering voters who makes the case for Ranked Choice Voting on his web site and highlights how candidates who will need votes from supporters of their opponents are forced to engage with a more diverse coalition of voters in a Ranked Choice Voting system which can better position them to win a general election.

A little-known benefit to healing divides in our politics.

If you want to learn more and get involved check out FairVote which is advocating for bringing Ranked Choice Voting to Americans nationwide.

Here’s a quick primer from FairVote: