Part 1

A Caucus is a political event to vote for delegates in the presidential election. This event
is run by state party officials and is usually held in community centers, churches, or schools.
These events are chosen to be at a specific time and place. The Caucus is different for
Republicans than it is for Democrats. For Republicans, they cast a secret ballot at a booth just
like a primary election. However, for Democrats, the numbers of voters are counted first.
Voters are allowed time to convince themselves of their choice as well as others. Then each
person can gather and choose one candidate or be known as undecided. The candidate that
doesn’t have 15 percent of the total head count is removed and the people with that removed
candidate must choose another candidate. The people who are undecided at this point must go
stand by the remaining choices. This goes on until all the candidates are above 15 percent of
the total head count. Then the final count is made and it is sent to the National Party
convention. A Caucus is different from a primary election because you able to talk with the
other voters there and convince them of your choice. Caucuses are more time consuming than
a primary election because they must keep recounting and separating into their preferred
choices. A primary election is run by the state government whereas a Caucus is run by state
party officials.
Prior to the early nineteen century, Caucuses used to be meetings for party leaders only
and were closed to the public. In these meetings, members of Congress chose the political
party nominees. Eventually after the 1968 election, the democratic party in most states
switched to using the primary method of voting, saying that they wanted to make the process
“more open to rank-and-file participation.”
The Caucuses in Iowa are a little bit different than Caucuses in other states. In Iowa, the
voters chose candidates to elect for a county convention, these candidates then vote for the
state candidates. Eventually these state candidates vote for delegates for the National
Convention. The Iowa Caucuses account for one percent of the total delegates that will be
casting votes. Candidates that win Iowa Caucuses don’t always win their party nomination, but
the chances are high. In the past, the top candidates in the democratic Caucuses have won
seven out of nine races. Candidates that have convinced Iowa to support them have received
more popularity and have a better chance at winning.
 Sailor Covington
Danielle Evensen
MATH 1030
Project 1 - Voting Theory
February 5, 2018

Initially, we had decided to use the Borda Count Method to decide on which candidate

was most worthy of earning the support of the delegates from the Precinct W1-P2. In this

particular case, the supported candidate would be Marco Rubio.

Although no method or theorem can be considered an infallible way to calculate the

winner of an election or a similar situation, amongst the five theorems or methods discussed,

the Borda Count method seems to promote the largest level of compromise seen in any of the

methods. We find compromise to be the most essential component to a fair election and for this

reason, the Borda Count Method is the favored method among our group.

Using our understanding of the calculations provided in Part II of this project, the Borda

Count Method seems to be not the only method upon which Marco Rubio should be considered

favorable among other candidates. Not only was Marco Rubio the winner in two of the four

methods when calculating the votes between all four candidates, Rubio also satisfied the

Condorcet Criterion, namely, he was the preferred candidate in all one-to-one comparisons with

other candidates. This puts Rubio at an advantage above all other candidates considered in this

election.

In closing, we have chosen Marco Rubio as the candidate to support at the Cerro Gordo

County Convention because he has shown to be favored in the majority of theorems while also

satisfying our interpretation of the most important method, the Borda Count Method.
 Works Cited

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/caucus-system-us-presidential-nominating-process
https://lifehacker.com/what-are-caucuses-and-how-do-they-work-1756362852