Today is the 2016 Iowa Caucus, and for the past few weeks the presidential candidates have been campaigning hard to try and win over Iowa. Being a young voter, I didn't know much about the election process, and when I began researching the different steps involved I came across the Iowa Caucus. There were a ton of news reports all about the importance of the Iowa Caucus and how it starts off the nominations. But as I tried to find out what a caucus was I was amazed to see just how little information there was on what a caucus does, why it starts in Iowa, and how people can be involved in their own state's caucus. For those of you who are just as confused as I was, look no further!

First let's start with what the word caucus means: it is a meeting of the members of a particular political party, to select candidates or decide policy. There are two types of caucuses: one for Republicans and one for Democrats, but not all states have both. For example, Kentucky only has a Republican Caucus. This means that Kentucky will have to hold a primary in order to have a say in which Democratic candidate will make it to the election in November.

To learn how a caucus works we should begin with the Republican style, as it is pretty simple. People who are registered as Republican will report to an official caucus site within their county and vote for which candidate they want to have represent their party in the election in November. The votes for each county are then tallied and candidates who do not receive enough votes are then eliminated. Later, a Congressional District Convention is held and people registered Republican can go to a caucus site in their district and vote between the candidates who remain after the county caucuses. More candidates are eliminated and the whole process is repeated one final time on a state level at a State Convention. Once the votes from the State Convention are counted, a single candidate is remaining and that person has won that state's caucus. Whichever candidate wins the most caucuses at a state level will be the Republican who shows up on the ballot in November.

The Democratic Caucus is very similar to the Republican Caucus except for one key element: the Democratic Caucus is truly a meeting. When a registered Democrat reports to their county caucus site they take a vote by standing in an area of the building that is assigned to the candidate they want. Candidates who do not receive enough votes are eliminated. The same people then regroup and vote again with only the remaining candidates to choose from. While regrouping people are able to talk to each other and try to sway each other to join their area and vote for a specific candidate.

This leads to heated discussions around the room and a count doesn't take place until everyone has made a choice. This process is then repeated until there are only two candidates left, and whoever receives the most support wins the county caucus. The process is then repeated at a district and state level. Just like with the Republican Caucus, whichever candidate wins the most state caucuses will be the Democrat who represents the party in November.

Now the greatest question of all, why is everyone so crazy about Iowa? The biggest reason is because Iowa is first to vote. A lot can happen in the nine months between the Iowa Caucus and the presidential election, so the people of Iowa have to be absolutely sure where they stand before they nominate a candidate. This puts a lot of pressure on the candidates to impress the people of Iowa. Another reason so many candidates spend millions trying to gain Iowa's vote is because seven Democrats in 10 caucuses who won in Iowa have ended up winning their party's nomination, and six Republicans in nine caucuses have won in Iowa and then won their party's nomination. While the Iowa caucus by no means guarantees a nomination, it sure does give the candidate a lot of momentum.

So, as election season has come upon us let's try to be as civically engaged as possible and make our voice heard! It is simple to participate in your county caucus and it can even be a really fun time. Using this link, you can find out when your state offers its Republican Caucus, Democratic Caucus, or both and if they don't have a caucus then they are sure to hold a Primary for your party. Either way, be sure to go out and vote for the candidate you want to see on the ballot in November!