As in years past, voters must present themselves in person, at a
specified hour, and stay for as long as two. And if these
caucuses are anything like prior ones, only a tiny percentage of
Iowans will participate. In 2000, the last year in which both
parties held caucuses, 59,000 Democrats and 87,000 Republicans
voted, in a state with 2.9 million people. In 2004, when the
Republicans did not caucus, 124,000 people turned out for the
Democratic caucuses.[...] While the Republican caucuses are
fairly simple — voters can leave shortly after they declare
their preferences — Democratic caucuses can require more time
and multiple candidate preferences from participants. They do
not conform to the one-person, one-vote rule, because votes are
weighted according to a precinct’s past level of participation.
Historical turnout in Colorado for caucuses hovers around 1% of
registered voters in the party, compared to about 8% for Iowa,
although Colorado has not had a Presidential caucus in recent
history and turnout tends t