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ST. CLOUD Republican and Democratic-Farmer-Labor precinctcaucuses were held Tuesdaynight, both in person and online.

In Senate District 14, the GOP saw 152 attendees. Higher numbers are generally seen in general election years, more than in midterm years like 2022, saidSenate District 14Republican Party Chair John Dvorak.

Held at Apollo High School,Senate District 14 GOP caucus attendees discussed increasing the number of poll watchers and election judges, and were encouraged tobecome delegates.

The Senate District 14 Republican BPOU (Basic Political OperatingUnit) is focused on local issues,"Dvorak said. "We care about the local community, we care about thelocal issues facing our residents, whether that be housing, health care, any type of mandates, any type of education, curriculum, anything like that. We are all about taking care of Senate District 14and their residents, and ensuring that we're fighting for them."

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DFL caucusing went online this year, allowing participants to makepaper and electronic submissions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. District 14 State Sen.Aric Putnam also met virtually with some participants. Of the DFLs options for caucusing, in-person seemed unwieldy, said Senate District 14 DFL Chair Jim Parsons.

One [option]was to have an in-person caucus as we have for the last number of years, as usual, except with substantially heightened COVID protections, masks worn at all times, etc., those kinds of things," Parsons said."Given the rooms that we had reserved across the districts, and the 34 precincts that we'd have to cover, we just thought that was unwieldy. We just didn't have enough people to manage that."

The district received around 100 non-attendee registration forms and around 200 resolution forms, Parsons said. Total delegate allocation for Senate District 14 is 454, according to Parsons. Topics of discussion included ranked-choice voting, drivers licenses for all and environmental concerns.

209people caucused for the GOP in Senate District 13, according to Senate District 13 RepublicanChair Aaron Brutger. People were concerned aboutelection integrity, crime ratesand medical freedom,Brutger said.

The GOP stands forprotecting life in terms of the unborn, standing up for our second amendment rights,"Brutger said. "There's a lot of discussion involving medical freedom. I know a lot of the gubernatorial candidates have been touching on that.

Senate District 13 had around 80 people caucusing for the DFL, said Senate District 13 DFL Chair Barry Belknap.

We got scanned forms, photocopies of forms, filled PDFs, got some in the mail, so they were coming in any which way. And I think the accessibility was good, Belknap said.

Submissions highlighted topics including environmental protection, voter rights, reproductive rights andsupport for teachers, Belknap said.

The DFL also recently announcedit would allow non-voters to participate in caucusing.

I think it is very important to make sure that we're clear. Nobody is supporting non-citizens voting or felons who are prohibited from voting, voting. But these are people that exist in our district who are human beings. And the party's intent was to make sure human beings have voices. That is, I think, a core ethic of the party, Belknap said.

None of the functions of politics that exist, whether it's at the school board level, state level, national level, none of that stuff goes without people getting involved and so I'm excited for the people that are getting into this for the first time and happy to work with the people that have been long-term activists and stalwarts in the party, to just try to keep the functions of government working well, and weredefinitely committed to a robust, fair, transparent democracy, Belknap said.

Link:
DFL, GOP parties discuss voter rights, election security and more during Tuesday's caucus - SC Times