How Martin O'Malley will be hurt by the caucus system in Iowa.
Unlike in the primaries, where each vote counts, under Iowa's anti-democratic caucus system, only candidates with 15% or more of the precinct vote are assigned delegates.
This will also affect Hillary and Bernie because candidates can have a substantial spread in the number of votes from individual voters, but be assigned the same number of caucus delegates. No one can get a fraction of a delegate, so two candidates with different vote counts can have the same delegate count.
And the actual vote counts are not publicized -- only the delegate counts.
Also, none of the votes are secret ballots. If, for example, a husband and a wife disagree, or an employer and an employee, they have to disagree openly and in public. And they get to try to persuade each other, publicly, to change their votes.
It's an antiquated system but it's what we're still stuck with in states like Iowa and my own state of Washington.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/us/politics/clinton-sanders-omalley-iowa-caucuses.html?mabReward=CTM&action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine
The arcane rules of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses mean that most O’Malley supporters will be ruled “nonviable” if he does not get 15 percent support at a caucus; his supporters will then be up for grabs by another candidate. With polls showing the race between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders narrowing to a near tie, O’Malley supporters, along with attendees who enter their neighborhood caucuses undecided, could swing the results.
A LIST OF PRIMARIES AND CAUCUSES, BY DATE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_2016
= new reply since forum marked as read
Where Hillary insulted Iowans about their caucus system? It's not a great way to make friends and influence people. 
so be good to us, guys!!!
