Thread by @AriBerman

Iowa caucus incredibly undemocratic:

-No absentee voting or secret ballot

-1000s with disabilities can’t participate

-40,000 with past felony convictions barred from voting

-Rural counties get more delegates than urban ones

This is not good way to choose party nominee

It’s great to see pics of packed caucus rooms but just imagine how many more people would be able to participate if Iowa had better voting laws

And remember Iowa is 90% white, disenfranchises 1 in 10 African-Americans because of felon disenfranchise law, has only 2 black mayors & has never elected a black or Latino statewide elected official

This stat from @clinthendler is really eye opening: "it only takes 43 participants in tiny Fremont County to win a delegate from a caucus, but in Johnson and Story counties, which both host state universities, it takes more than 200." motherjones.com/politics/2020/…

@clinthendler And I say this all as a native Iowan who loves the state & especially @TheIowaHawkeyes!

When I tweeted all the screwed up things about Iowa caucus 4 hours ago forgot to include “massive system meltdown delaying results for hours”

If Iowa had a primary like almost every other state, instead of a byzantine caucus, there would’ve been much higher turnout and we would’ve known the results within a few hours

Who can't participate in a caucus?

-People working weekday nights

-Families with young children

-People out of town & retirees who leave state in winter

-Many people with disabilities

-And Iowa only state banning ex-felons from voting

All of this suppresses turnout

Between the undemocratic nature of the caucus, the incompetence of election officials and the lack of racial diversity, there is no way Iowa should go first again