DES MOINES, Iowa (NEWSnet/AP) — There's less fanfare for Democrats in Iowa selecting a presidential nominee in 2024.

Instead of congregating for caucuses, Iowa Democrats mail ballots. Results will be released on Super Tuesday.

The break with five decades of tradition has disappointed Iowa party leaders and activists, with some feeling jilted by the national party.

Nancy Bobo, a longtime Democratic activist in Des Moines, was able to vote for a presidential nominee. For the first time since 1980, she was sick and couldn’t make it to her caucus on Jan. 15. But the change is a “thorn in my side,” she said.

“Yeah, you vote, but you lose all that congregating and coming together and discussing issues," Bobo said.

Bobo, an early supporter of then-Senator Barack Obama's campaign, recounted the record-breaking caucus on Jan. 3, 2008, when so many people gathered at a high school  they were forced to move from the auditorium to the gymnasium.

In the lead-up to 2024, Democratic National Committee decided to reorder early voting states, at the request of Joe Biden, prioritizing diverse voters in states such as South Carolina and Michigan over predominantly white voters in Iowa. Critics, including Biden, have said the caucuses are not representative of the party.

The national party has worked with Iowa Democrats “to ensure a more accessible, equitable primary process” and is providing financial and other resources “to strengthen state party infrastructure," a DNC spokesperson said.

More than 200,000 Iowans participated in the 2008 event that began Obama’s ascent to the White House, but that record-breaking number is rare. Even during a contested race, participation in the caucuses typically is a fraction of the party’s registered voters.

About 6,000 Iowa Democrats participated in the 2024 caucus, which was focused partly on electing individuals to serve as delegates to Democratic National Convention.

Iowa Democratic Party is reimagining the caucuses as an opportunity to reconsider how to encourage people to "engage in the kind of conversations that strengthen us as Democrats,"  said Rita Hart, chairwoman of Iowa Democratic Party.

They received more than 19,000 requests for presidential preference cards, higher than the number that participated in the 2012 Democratic caucuses. As of Friday, more than 11,000 had been returned.

Sara Riley, an attorney in Cedar Rapids, thinks moving away from a caucus format makes sense. She doesn’t believe engagement will diminish. A primary could lead more people to participate.

Riley, who has volunteered hundreds of hours for presidential campaigns, said she doesn’t think energy disappears if the method changes.

Bobo is skeptical.

“Once it’s gone, I think it’s pretty hard to get it back,” she said.

Iowa Democratic Party has said it agreed to the changes this year only with reassurances that Iowa would be considered for the early set of states in 2028.

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