During the caucuses, the caucus-goers select their preference for president.  Most of the caucusers do not actually vote for president;  that is left up to a group of delegates, which are selected at the caucus or by party leaders to represent the candidate.

During a caucus on the Republican side, a secret ballot vote is taken.  The votes are tallied at local caucuses, and that determines the snapshot of presidential preference.  However, the delegates are not bound to the candidate they may have voted for; all delegates are not bound to a particular candidate until the convention.  Of the nearly 5,000 Republicans who voted in the caucus this year, about 2500 voted for Mitt Romney. 

At the Democratic caucuses, each Democratic committee is allocated a certain number of delegates by the state party.  The number is based on the proportion of votes cast for President or Governor in the last general election.

At the caucus, voters may speak for the candidate of their choice.  They then indicate their choice by grouping together in different areas of the room, or, in a small caucus, raising hands.  A preliminary number of delegates is tallied, but then caucus goers have the chance to change their votes.  For instance, supporters of a candidate who doesn’t have enough votes to get a delegate may switch to another candidate.  A second tally determines the number of delegates that are assigned to a specific candidate.  Delegates from each town are chosen to represent their candidate at the state convention, and there, delegates are chosen to go to the national convention.

Democratic delegates are also technically unbound, but Democratic officials urge delegates to the state convention to ‘follow their consciences’ - which most delegates take to mean ‘vote for the candidate that sent you to the convention’ unless he or she has dropped out or has thrown his or her support to another candidate.

Republican caucuses are based on a secret ballot.  Democratic caucuses, however, are open.  Everyone at the caucus knows how other individuals voted.

Other business at a caucus may include the election of town party officials, as well as the collection of clean campaign funds for local candidates, and petition signing.

Caucuses do not select any other candidate for office.  That is left to the primary, which in Maine, occurs in June.
The state needs a primary, precisely because there are other candidates for office.  For instance, there are several candidates running on either side for the first congressional district office that Tom Allen is vacating to run for Senate. 

At the primary, voters will select the candidate who will represent the Democrats and Republicans in November for this office, and others.  Each town will also have items on the ballot, such as state or local questions that can’t wait until November.  Also, if there are battles within the party for state house seats or state senate seats, those would also be decided at the June primary.

During the primary, presidential preference will NOT be one of the issues voters decide.  The only time voters can express a preference for president ... until November, that is ... is during the February caucus.

Unenrolled voters can choose to vote in the Democratic primary by showing up at the caucus and enrolling as a Democrat on the spot.  Green or Republican voters who might have wished to change party affiliation have missed their window of opportunity, however; the deadline was in late January.

To find your caucus location and time, visit the Maine Democratic Party’s website at http://www.mainedems.org/caucus08.aspx.  The Coastal Journal published all caucus information in the January 24 and January 31 issues.