Never been to a caucus? Not sure how it works? Precinct caucuses are meetings run by Minnesota’s political parties. They are the first in a series of local meetings where parties may endorse candidates for public office, select delegates, and set goals and values (called party platforms).
All residents can show support for their preferred candidates by participating in the candidate endorsement process that leads up to the state party conventions.
It all begins on Tuesday, February 25 at 7 p.m. with the precinct caucuses (find locations below). Going to a caucus is a great way to show support for a candidate, raise an issue that’s important to you, influence who the party will endorse for many offices, and meet people in your community.
To participate, you must be eligible to vote in the November 2020 general election and live in the precinct (see links below). You also must generally agree with the principles of the political party hosting the caucus.
Each political party runs their caucus meetings a little differently. Check with your political party (see info below) if you have specific questions. Generally, there are three main activities at a caucus:
Choose volunteers who will organize political activities in the precinct. This could include maintaining contact lists, holding political meetings, and helping with campaign efforts.
Discuss issues and ideas for the party to support. You can present an issue or idea for the party to support, called a resolution. If you convince other attendees to support your resolution, it will be taken to the next political convention. Eventually, your resolution could become part of the official party platform.
Choose delegates who will endorse candidates at future conventions. At future conventions, party delegates will endorse state and federal candidates. Political parties have different ways of choosing delegates at the precinct level caucus—contact your party for more info.
Precinct Caucus info
Polling Place Finder: pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/
Precinct Finder: gis.leg.mn/iMaps/precincts/
Democratic-Famer-Labor Party: dfl.org/caucuses-conventions/
Republican Party: mngop.com/precinct-caucuses/
Green Party: mngreen.org
Libertarian Party: lpmn.org
For other parties contact them directly