February 3rd marks the date of the Iowa caucuses and will become the first votes cast in the Democratic presidential primaries. The Iowa caucus is guaranteed not to be a typical primary.

The caucuses will not be private; they will not be quiet; they will not be solitary. They will involve large groups of people coming together to verbally (and sometimes loudly) express their vote. 

Voters in Iowa must be registered in their district to attend the caucuses. Participants will gather in a variety of locations, from government buildings, to churches, to schools and even inside the living rooms and basements of private homes. 

In a typical primary election, people line up as individuals according to party affiliation to cast their ballot. They vote quietly and secretly and leave as quietly as they entered. There is no campaign or discussion about the voting process. 

The Iowa caucus is a different kind of primary altogether. Voters enter a caucus location and begin vocally working the room to find other supporters of their political candidate. Groups form according to like-supporters. Everyone gets counted and organizers determine whether or not a candidate is viable to continue the process. Candidates with 15% support must remain with their candidate. If a candidate doesn’t have at least 15%, the group dissolves and supporters must select another candidate to vote for. 

Groups without 15% support have three choices, they can try to persuade other voters with nonviable candidates to support their politician, they can move to another group and support another candidate, or they may remain undecided and not vote. This makes the entire process loud and active and nothing like a traditional primary.

Each candidate with 15% or more support receives one or more delegates, depending upon the numbers in their group. At the end of the night, the state party counts the delegates using a mathematical formula and the candidate who won the Iowa caucuses is announced.

The Iowa caucuses exemplify what it means to stand up and support your candidate and express your opinion. Casting your vote in the Iowa caucus is completely transparent. The caucuses are not without controversy, though. 

Because voters must be there in person, shift workers and the elderly (among others) may have a difficult time participating in the voting process.

The unique and controversial caucuses will be the first to cast votes next month. Once all 50 states and territories have held their primaries, the nation will learn which candidate will possess enough delegates to go on to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency.