I am embarrassed to say that on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, I attended my first Caucus in the State of Minnesota. We take our politics pretty seriously in Minnesota (obviously not me) so when it is a presidential election year with some big decisions to be made around who will be representing the woefully outdated two party system, we turn out in droves. And the process could use a little Lean fixing to say the least.
Current State (based on a sample of one)
All of the on-line recommendations said to be on time and, in order to be on time, be early. People must have read the material because the first bottleneck in the process occurred on the way to the caucus site. There was a line of cars at least a half mile long. It made my morning commute across the Minnesota River on I35W look like a cake walk.
Next, the parking lot. Not nearly big enough. Finding a spot to park was PAINFUL. (I should have ridden my bike) Plus, several other activities were just letting out at the site further congesting the lot.
Entering the door, I was greeted by a very enthusiastic helper.
- “HI! MY NAME IS BOB! DO YOU KNOW YOUR PRECINCT NUMBER?”
- Me, “no.”
- Bob “OK! THERE IS A MAP ON THE WALL THAT TELLS YOU YOUR NUMBER AND WHAT ROOM YOU WILL BE CAUCUSING IN!”
- Me, “Ok, thanks Bob.”
Of course 90% of the people attending were trying to get to the one map on the wall which was surrounded by tables and candidate volunteers trying to sway your vote. Remember all of those cars coming in? They were all at the map.
Ok, got the room. Where’s Bob? I need him to tell me the direction of the room. I tell Bob my number and his face clouds. “Oh, room 159, that’s a really long line…. good luck!” This time he doesn’t speak in all caps.
He was right. A really. Long. Line. And, to top it off, rooms 161 and 162 were lining up in the same hallway and, as you might expect, intermingled with the all of the Room 159 folks. Many other Bobs were patrolling the hallway with expressions of panic not really knowing exactly what to do. Finally, a Bob makes an announcement that all room 159 caucus goers will be relocating to the auditorium. The herd of room 159’ers turns and trudges toward the auditorium where we take up seats and wait. And wait. And wait. When no Bobs show up for over 15 minutes I set off back to room 159 where I find one registration table and they are still registering and voting. Hmmmm. “When are you relocating to the auditorium?” I ask. “This is the last one” Bob says pointing to an elderly gentleman signing his shaky name to the registration document. “Ok. There is a room full of people waiting.” I not so politely inform him. Yes, I am starting to get a bit testy at this point trying to do my civic duty.
Back to the auditorium I go to wait another 5 minutes until a Bob shows up. “OK, we are going to start on the left side of the room and go by rows." Immediately, the entire room moves to the left side of the room. Great! Bob started directing rows to proceed to registration so I moved to the front of the room and followed the first row out. I was followed by several others, breaking the Minnesota Nice / Rule Followers stereotype.
I get to the registration table after another wait, register (print and sign my name), and... Finally the value-added step, marking my choice. 5 seconds, and that is being generous. Now, I realize that the caucus process has other activities going on that can help shape the platform and who represents the party at the state level but, 99% of the people are not interested in that part of the process.
Let’s summarize. Three process steps; 1. Check the map for precinct (Non Value-Added Required), 2. Register (non-value added because nobody verified my name or precinct), 3. Vote (value added). Total value added time 5 seconds. Total time spent, 60 minutes. Non Value-Added time = 59 minutes and 59 seconds.
Potential Solutions:
Change to a Primary System. Barring that due to political forces against it;
Expand the time for caucus goers from the current 1 hour to 5 hours, reserving the last 45 minutes for those that want to participate in the other caucus activities of submitting and voting on resolutions and election of delegates.
What effects would this have?
A significant reduction in crowds resulting in;
Elimination of the need to separate people by precinct (nobody verified our address anyway)
Eliminating the need for separate rooms
Elimination of the line for the map and time spent finding your map
Elimination of the need to find the room / changing the room
Reduced size of caucus venue allowing for
A central location for the caucus
reduced travel time and traffic jams
More people walking
Once you get in the door you could step up to a table, register, vote and turn and go allowing for;
Reduced need for parking due to faster parking turn time
Reduction in parking space wait time
A central, in town location reduces the travel time to the bar for post-caucus cocktails resulting in;
Economic stimulus for in town businesses
More civic engagement discussing politics and watching the results
Oh, by the way, the Super Delegates at the convention could, in effect, marginalize all of the voting on caucus night eliminating a large part of the voting results. What a great system for electing our next president. (sarcasm intended)
Vote early, vote often
bill