We Came, We Caucused

Last night was the democratic caucus in Hawaii. Both Bryan and I were determined to cast our vote in our first ever caucus for this very important election season.

I've never really understood what a caucus is. I have no idea if the Hawaii caucus system is like others, I doubt it. In case you ever wondered about a caucus too, here's our story in pictures.

Earlier in the day I looked up our caucus location online. We were instructed to vote at this church a few blocks from our house. It looked like this when I got there:



Completely empty. I ran into two people as confused as I was and we all determined that there was no voting happening here. Frustrating!

I met Bryan, we walked home, and we looked at a different website for another caucus location. To Manoa Elementary School we went. The school was a madhouse! Cars and people everywhere. We ended up parking in a grassy ditch. Once in the school, we quickly located the caucus location - identified by the thousand people standing in lines.



It was like being in a foreign post office. We got in line and tried to figure out what to do next. The key to voting in this caucus was to register with the Hawaii Democratic Party. Which you can easily do by filling out a simple form. So we did. We were suppose to find our precinct number (which I already knew), and then you were allowed inside to cast your vote.

Right about the time we got our forms filled out, someone on the loudspeaker announced "We've made an executive decision, you do not need your precinct number. We're operating on an honor system. JUST GET IN HERE AND VOTE!" Uh, okay.

Eventually we made our way inside which was just as crazy as outside. Cafeteria tables will people crowding about. And people actually campaigning inside the voting room! No privacy booths here, no checking your name off a list, no checking ID.



We signed a "sign in" sheet, and were handed a small scrap of paper. Then we borrowed a pen and wrote down our vote.





You "cast" your vote by dropping it in a cardboard box lid. As a woman on stage yells "Hillary!" and the government representative next to her wears an Obama button.



We also got cookies.

All in all, the craziest voting experience I've ever had.