Caucuses Happen Tuesday Night...So What's A Caucus?

A caucus helps a political party gain consensus as to how voters have aligned their political and candidate preferences.

But at a caucus, there’s more going on than just candidate selection. Participants sometimes select county committee chairs that go to a state—and sometimes national—convention.

What distinguishes a caucus from a primary is that at a primary, voters don’t have to be present at one particular location at a specific time. For a primary, voters just go to their polling place and cast a vote, the same as they would do at a general election.

For a caucus, you have to be physically present at your designated caucus site, register, show your party affiliation and then participate in the process. Attendees participate directly.

To take part in a caucus, you must be eligible to vote in the 2012 general election and live in the precinct.

Each party has its own rules and guidelines it follows.

Additional caucus information—including a caucus finder—can be found on the Minnesota Secretary of State website by clicking here.