Several people recently have asked me exactly what is a political caucus and how does it work? A caucus as held in Colorado is democracy at the grass roots level. It can also be a group of members of a legislative body who band together for a common purpose but that is not the subject as discussed here. The caucus is a meeting in each neighborhood or precinct to determine who will represent you at the County Assembly where initial decisions are made on who the party will run as a candidate. Every two years the party will hold a caucus by precinct where members of that party gather to elect delegates to represent them at the county, district and state level. Each precinct elects two Precinct Committee Persons (PCP) as well as a specified number of delegates. The PCPs serve on the County Central Committee for a term of two years. The number of delegates is determined by the votes cast in that precinct for the party’s nominee in the most recent Presidential or Gubernatorial race. Anyone who is a registered member of the party may attend, participate and become a delegate. You must be a member of the party and reside in the precinct to play since these are decisions on who will be the party’s candidates. Delegates to the County Assembly then will have the opportunity to address issues, vote on candidates for county offices, resolutions for consideration at the State Convention and select delegates for the State Convention.

 

In order for a democratic republic to function properly an informed and engaged electorate is a must. Someone will represent you, if you fail to participate, to learn about the issues and the candidates, someone will still officially represent you, he/she just may not reflect your views or values. Those who fail to engage have simply through apathy silenced their own voices. Speak up, engage, inform yourself, take control of your neighborhood, precinct, district and state. The Republican caucus for 2014 elections will be held on March 4th by precinct. More information will be on this website in the coming weeks.

 

You can pre-register for the caucus and find your caucus location by going to http://www.caucus.cologop.org/preregistration.php