This past Saturday, I ventured down to the Seattle Public Library at 1:00pm to attend my very first Democratic caucus.

When I got there, the line to sign in was snaking around the elevator and escalator areas on the bottom floor. People were busily chatting, questioning what to expect as, for many of them, it seemed to be their first caucus. The wait actually went by quickly and before I knew it, I was standing at the front of the line for precinct 2544 (represent!) filling in my name, address and initial vote.

What’s interesting – and clearly startling – is that they didn’t ask me for my license as proof of my eligibility when I was filling out that first ballot. Even when I flashed my wallet back and forth and prodded, saying “Do you need to see identification?”, the woman behind the desk shook her head no and told me I was good to go. At this point, I realized I essentially could have taken off my jacket, got back into line and probably filled out another ballot as someone else, granted I knew their name and address.

Shrugging off that initial shock, I took my place in the auditorium seating and waited for the festivities to begin. Shortly after, an older, but spry, woman named Evelyn got on the mike and asked us to stand for the pledge of allegiance. (A pledge of allegiance, by the way, that was more disorganized than those I heard sleepily muttered during homeroom in high school). Evelyn followed this up by explaining the rules, outlining how our day would go, and informing us of what would come next.

Basically, after they counted and called out the initial tallies for each of the four precincts there, we would break off into separate rooms to go about the caucus process: Representatives for each candidate would engage in a ritual of wooing the undecideds to vote for their candidate, thus increasing the number of delegates awarded.

The first tally was a large dose of foreshadowing: Obama and Clinton started off with a delegate ration of 25:7, respectively; a ratio which only grew to favor Obama more as the undecideds were convinced – at least in my precinct – to vote for Obama. We then broke off into individual precincts and moved to smaller rooms upstairs in the library. (As a side note, in total, there were 425 people at the caucus and the organizers made it very clear that that number was unprecedented).

When we got upstairs, after they explained and whiteboarded the math they used to calculate the delegate spread, the groups for each candidate separated to opposite sides of the room and the undecideds were placed in the middle (I think this was done to throw a little levity into the situation…it worked). The groups were then given 15 minutes to fraternize with those not yet pledged to a candidate and convince them why each respective candidate deserved their vote. This was followed by a 1 minute speech from each side addressing key concerns on the part of the undecideds (the Iraq war and women’s rights, in our case). The goal of this was to assert why Obama or Clinton was the best option to solve those problems.

With that finished, we moved on to the final tally where the undecideds had to pledge their vote to a single candidate and a recount of the ballots was performed (this was also done to account for anyone who came in late).  Our facilitator then recounted the ballots, declared a 7 to 1 victory for Obama, and called the caucus to a close. Three and half hours later, we were finished.

All in all, it was a really cool process that was worth going to and the volunteers pulled it off nicely, especially considering it was a new process this year. I got the feeling that, if news stations decided to focus on events like these, people could relate more and it would incite them to participate and play their part in our democracy. When you think about it, 3.5 hours every 4 – 8 years is an incredibly insignificant amount of time to spend when you consider the impact you’re having.

Finally, there are a few points which may be interesting for people wanting to go to a caucus in the future to know:

• If you’re 17 and will turn 18 before the November election, you can caucus.
• Knowing your precinct number before you go helps, but it’s not necessary.
• Don’t worry if you think your lack of political knowledge will make you an outcast. Plenty of people were slightly less than knowledgeable. Say you’re undecided and watch as all those that are in the know work to educate you.
• The caucus cost the Democratic Party of Washington $11,000 just for our four precincts alone. Show up to make sure this money put to its max effective use!
• These are pretty spirited events. People were “woo!”ing for their precincts and intensely interested in the outcome. Passion. Caring. That’s our democracy.
• You can volunteer to be a delegate for the county caucus if you want to play a bigger part in your state’s election process (two people are needed per delegate: one primary, one as a backup).
• You’ll be surprised at how invested you feel in the process and the outcome after attending.
• This only happens once every 4 or 8 years, so go if you can!

If you’re interested, my raw notes from this event are available here (they’re rough and were taken on a mobile phone, so forgive any terseness or typos). I recommend taking a look – a lot happened that I couldn’t fit into this post.