Precinct Caucuses: Coming to a Neighborhood Near You!
click here for a printable pdf version of this document
On Tuesday, February 5 three Minnesota political parties (Democratic Farm Labor, Independence Party and Republican Party) will sponsor their precinct causes. The Green Party will caucus on March 4 and the Constitution Party will caucus on Feb. 2. These precinct caucuses offer a perfect opportunity for each voter to weigh in at the grassroots level with opinions and actions you believe your party should take in Minnesota.
Why are causes so important to attend?
- Issues: Caucuses offer the first open door to bring issues and positions to the party of your choice. Issues that are NOT raised at the caucus level do not get a hearing at later conventions and stand no chance of becoming an action item for the party. Whatever discussions occur later are based solely on the input/material that comes out of the caucus meetings. (See proposed resolutions below.)
- Delegates: YOU can (and should) be a delegate to the next levels of conventions - county, district, state and national conventions only feature delegates who started out at the precinct caucus level in Minnesota. Representation is proportional to the support for issues and candidates. So, if you want a particular presidential candidate to move forward to the national convention, you can play a role in that by being a delegate committed to that candidate from your precinct.
- Race for president: You will be able to participate in a “straw poll” to indicate your choice for president. You can weigh in on who you think your party should endorse as the presidential candidate.
- Local party officials: You will begin the process of choosing local party officials. At the precinct caucus, you will select the leader/s of your precinct. You can even be the leader of your precinct.
- If we haven’t convinced you by now, check out this article from the Star/Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/13998231.html
- This is grassroots at its very heart!
How do I find my precinct caucus location?
Proposed Resolutions:
- At a point in the evening’s agenda, the precinct chair will open the floor for attendees who want to submit resolutions for the party to consider. The precinct hears the resolutions and votes on whether or not they want the issue to be referred to the next level of convention. For any issue to reach the party platform it has to begin at the precinct level. When similar issues are raised at a number of different precincts, there is greater possibility that they will be heard and adopted at the next level of convention. There are usually forms that you can fill out at the caucus containing the content of your resolution. Or, you can simply take the resolution page from this document with you and present that.
- Because the work of sexual assault advocacy programs is so critical to community and victim safety the following resolutions should be offered at precinct caucuses:
Resolution 1:
Whereas we value the safety of Minnesota’s men, women, and children and want to keep them from the harm of sexual violence;
Whereas sexual assault is a crime that touches as many as 1 in 4 Minnesota families;
Whereas the recent Costs of Sexual Violence in Minnesota report issued by the MN Department of Health indicates the annual cost of sexual violence to be in excess of $8 billion.
And, whereas access to immediate support and advocacy services can decrease the effects of trauma on victims.
Be it therefore resolved that elected officials and candidates for Minnesota State offices make a commitment to increasing the state’s investment in community based services to support victims of sexual violence.
Resolution 2:
Whereas we value the safety of Minnesota’s men, women, and children and want to keep them from the harm of sexual violence;
Whereas sexual assault is a crime that touches as many as 1 in 4 Minnesota families;
Whereas the recent Costs of Sexual Violence in Minnesota report issued by the MN Department of Health indicates the annual cost of sexual violence to be in excess of $8 billion.
And whereas Minnesota contributes NO state revenue to the primary prevention of sexual violence;
Be it therefore resolved that elected officials and candidates for Minnesota State offices make a commitment to reversing the trend of under-investing in sexual violence prevention by dedicating state revenue to the primary prevention of sexual violence.
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