COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa — The Iowa Democratic and Republican parties are hosting their caucuses on Monday, Feb. 7, and one organization is trying to prepare and encourage more Latinos to caucus.
The League of United Latino American Citizens, LULAC, Council 317 in Columbus Junction hosted a "What is a Caucus?" presentation Sunday, Jan. 30.
The bipartisan event walked voters through the history and purpose of the Iowa caucus, as well as what they can expect to happen the night of.
"The reason why we decided to do this event is because I feel like there are many people in our community that have never participated in a caucus," Council President Crystal Ambriz said. "They don't know what a caucus is."
Ambriz added that it's especially important to hold events like this during the midterms and off-year elections.
"All they know is 'we go vote for presidential elections, we don't do midterm,'" she said. "It's just a way for them to start being engaged in the community, and a way for them to open a lot of doors, a lot of goals, if they have any to become like, for instance, part of the city council, even mayor. It just starts right here."
Sylvia Juarez decided to come Sunday afternoon because she's never participated in a caucus and wanted to get involved.
"I think it's good for the Spanish people because we doesn't know anything about it," Juarez said. "I would like to know more than that … I think it's interesting."
Areli Espinosa is another first-time caucuser.
"I have put this to the side, but it's never too late," Espinosa said. "I will continue passing it on to other people that it's very important. If we want to see some changes, we need to start voting and we need to start giving support if we can vote."
For her, it's about helping the future generations.
The "What is a Caucus?" presentation didn't just teach people how to be actively involved but that they're able to be observers, too.
"I have never attended a caucus myself. I'm a DACA recipient, so I'm hoping to be an observant to one," Ambriz said. "I just hope that everyone was able to learn as much as I did."
Ambriz hopes to host more events throughout the election season to help keep the Latino community informed about the entire election process and the laws that have changed.
Ahead of the 2020 election, 70% of adult Latinos were registered to vote in Iowa, meaning that Latinos would represent one of out every four caucus-goers, according to LULAC. That was an increase from 2016 when Latinos represented one out of eight Iowa caucus-goers.
The Iowa caucus is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 7.
The Iowa Democratic party caucus locations can be found here, and the Iowa Republican party caucus locations can be found here.
Democrats will host county conventions March 26, district conventions April 23 and their state convention June 18.
The GOP will host its county conventions March 12, district conventions April 23 and its state convention June 11.