There will be 99 places where voters can participate in next year's Iowa Caucuses. The satellite caucus locations were announced Wednesday by the Iowa Democratic Party and they're all around the country including Arizona, Florida, and New York.
Some international locations like the Republic of Georgia, Scotland, and Paris, France, were also approved. Caucus day or night, depending on the location, is February 3rd.
"I’m really excited about it and I just think it demonstrates our commitment here to make sure these are the most transparent and successful caucuses we’ve ever had," IDP chairman, Troy Price told WHO-TV 13.
Satellite caucuses will allow Iowa voters to caucus in pre-approved places other than their assigned precinct location. These locations include 71 in-state, 25 out-of-state, 11 combinations with other locations and 3 international locations.
For out-of-state locations, Price says he hopes to have help from party leaders in other states. "We’re fortunate we have strong partnership with other state parties," he told WHO-TV 13. "We’ve already been in contact with some of them about potentially providing assistance."
Just like precinct caucuses, each satellite location will have a trained captain who has pledged neutrality and is in charge of oversight and reporting the results. Satellite sites can include nursing homes, factories or any other community gathering places where groups otherwise might have difficulty going to their precinct caucus. Iowans living out of state, like members of the military, will also be able to form their own satellite caucus as well.
Price said the party tested the satellite caucuses in 2016, so he has confidence in the process for 2020.
"That’s the great thing about the caucuses is we get to experiment. We’ll see what happens in 2024," he said. "We’re obviously gonna study the results after they're done. We’re always looking at ways to increase participation and accessibility."