Democratic enthusiasm causing logistical challenges for Iowa caucuses

Democrats in Iowa are bracing for massive turnout in their first-in-the-nation presidential caucus, which by all accounts was a bit of a mess in 2016, when there were only three candidates in the mix—Sanders, Clinton, and O’Malley. Hillary Clinton was able to eke out the narrowest of victories.

Now that the Democratic field looks likely to be more like 20 candidates, the caucuses are likely to be even more raucous and contentious and organizers are trying to head off potential issues early.

Politico reports:

“The party is shopping for larger facilities to fit expected overflow crowds, investing in new technology to stave off check-in and head-counting snafus and pushing individual 2020 campaigns to create their own voter registration programs.”

The number of declared presidential candidates on the Democratic side is growing by the day and some of them are commanding serious attention, like Kamala Harris, who reportedly raised $1.5 million within a day following her announcement.

One takeaway from the midterm elections was that Democratic voter enthusiasm is outpacing Republican voter enthusiasm, an especially troubling state of affairs with President Trump facing more and more legal trouble over connections to Russian and his approval trending downwards.