St. Paul, MN Ward 6 Precinct 12 Report
I chaired the caucus for my precinct last evening. Turnout was good, but not as high as in 2008. Bernie won in our precinct, as in Minnesota. The actual precinct count was Bernie 37 votes and Hillary 21 votes.
Despite a shortage of printed ballots, the caucus went smoothly. We fell back on the traditional method of writing your preferred candidate on a slip of paper, like we did in 2008. The ballots were counted twice to ensure accuracy by the tellers elected at the caucus.
I got there at 6:30 and left at 8:30. We actually filled our quota of delegates to the Senate District convention for the first time in my experience, which should make for an interesting convention if every precinct filled their delegate list.
Our results weren't far from the statewide results, where Bernie ended up with 62% to Hillary's 38%.
Again, I hope we switch to a primary for future presidential elections. The caucus system is outdated and more than a little chaotic. Parking was insufficient and the caucuses are complicated for people not used to them.
Congratulations to Bernie Sanders on his win in Minnesota!
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I was so busy tearing sheets of paper into quarters for ballots and helping people find the correct precinct, along with managing the caucus meeting and filling out all the forms. I simply forgot to cast my own vote. 
I did win the election to be caucus chair again, though. Nobody else was willing to run, I guess.
That's hilarious. I can see how that could happen, though!
the caucuses are usually chaired by someone from the district organization. This year, no such person showed up, so I did it, since I'm the precinct chair and am familiar with the process. I wuz railroaded into the job!
It's actually a fairly complex job, but I've been paying close attention over the years and there's a packet for each precinct that covers everything. Now that I've done it, I'll probably contact the district organization and get my name on the convener's list. They do a one-day training before each election. Lots of paperwork that has to be done after the caucus, too.
Problem is I am still in grad school; but when I graduate in a few years Minneapolis / St. Paul is on my shortlist. I hear there are a number of science / tech jobs in the area. And some universities to teach at if I go that route.
The numbers are smaller, though. It's a blue-collar neighborhood of single-family homes. No businesses, just residential. We turn out very well for elections, but our caucuses are always small 2008 and 2016 were exceptions. Nobody cares about printed ballots, though. They're good with writing their choice on a slip of paper.
Our caucus meetings are friendly and peaceful. This year was no exception. Everything is done right in the open, and there were even a few people standing and watching our two election tellers count the ballots. There's not even a set system for counting ballots. Since I was the caucus chair, I announced that they would be counted by making piles of ballots for each candidate, which would then be counted by both tellers. The counts had to agree. I said, "That's how we did it in my grammar school elections." Everyone laughed. Everyone agreed to the method.
Lots of laughter is always the norm at these things. We elect precinct officers. Typically, whoever volunteers to be the chair or vice-chairs are elected by acclamation. There's a formal call for nominations but, as usual, I had to wheedle a couple of people into running for vice-chair. There are no duties at all. It's ceremonial, except during the actual caucus meetings.
We elect delegates to the first-level conventions. Again, that's done by asking who wants to be a delegate. If there are no more volunteers than the number of seats available, that's it. Acclamation again. This year, we managed to fill all 12 delegate seats, but I had to convince a couple of people to be delegates to fill the list. I told the people left after the candidate voting what happens at the convention and that it was an interesting thing to do. We got all 12! Amazing. Usually, we end up with five or six.
Caucuses can be fairly casual or they can be very crowded, requiring a more formal "Roberts Rules of Order" process. I could handle running either, but ours is always informal in its operation, by general consent. It's a neighborhood thing, and always friendly and enjoyable. The only thing that would be better would be refreshments. Next Caucus, I'm going to buy a few dozen donuts or something to share with the group. What the heck...
Life's full of surprises, though.
