More than 50 Massachusetts residents, most of them likely college students from Iowa, are set to play a small voting role in that state’s Democratic caucuses next week.
This year, the Iowa Democratic Party authorized “satellite” caucus sites for the first time — including one in Cambridge. Pre-registered Iowa voters can express their presidential preference at the sites without physically being in their designated precinct back home.
A site in Harvard Square is one of 92 in 12 states and the District of Columbia, three foreign countries and places like assisted living communities in Iowa whose residents have difficulty reaching precinct caucuses.
A party leader and political science professor in Iowa said the change is intended to increase the number of voters who participate in the marathon nighttime caucuses.
Julius Frost, a junior at Boston University, told WGBH News he also stands to benefit from the change.
The 21-year-old from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said he is one of the 56 pre-registered voters who intend to caucus at the Democracy Center in Harvard Square next week.
“I feel like it's going to be a mess a little bit," he said. "But I'm also hopeful that it's going to be pretty interesting."
Frost, who was too young to vote during the 2016 presidential election, said he was frustrated at the prospect of being left out of the early process again this year.
He said he is a member of the BU Yang Gang — a small, informal Facebook group that supports candidate Andrew Yang. He said he plans to caucus for the tech entrepreneur on Feb. 3 from Mass.
“I was kind of disappointed because I thought they wouldn't count my vote,” he said, citing costs and schoolwork as barriers to traveling back home for the caucus.
A concern about the participation of students who attend college in Massachusetts is one reason Iowa Democratic officials say the Cambridge site was selected.
“We know that there are a lot of students who go to school outside of Iowa. In years past, we have not had the chance to have their voice as a part of this,” said Troy Price, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party. “The site in Cambridge will get a lot of those students involved in this process.”
Altogether, the Iowa Democratic Party said 1,247 voters have pre-registered for an out-of-state satellite caucus.
Rhode Island is the only other New England state scheduled to host a satellite caucus, at Brown University.
In addition to the stateside sites, there are also 41 international registrants looking to caucus at sites in The Republic of Georgia, Scotland and France.
The satellite results, Price said, will be counted as an additional precinct, then weighted according to participation through an obscure equation at the state level.
Price, 39, called the change one of the most significant the party has made since the 1970s. The party also decided to publicize a more detailed account of the caucus results this year. For the first time, the public will know Iowa voters’ first preference and second preference.
Dennis Goldford, political science professor at Drake University in Des Moines, said the Democrats are trying to expand access and increase participation beyond the average one out of five eligible party voters. The traditional rules of the process, he said, have caused difficulty.
“It’s in the past been a zero-sum game. Either you’re there and can participate, or you’re not there and you have no participation whatsoever,” Goldford said.
Goldford expressed skepticism about the new caucus logistics and results, saying Iowa Democrats are taking an already mysterious process and “risking making it even more complicated and confusing.”
In Frost’s view, the changes means a caucus result that reflects a broader range of experiences.
“People outside of Iowa can see other people’s perspectives,” Frost said.
“I don’t think that living in a different place would make you not vote in Iowans’ interests. It’s more that you have a more holistic view on different issues. I think that would really help Iowans make a better vote, and the country would follow through on their momentum.”
