REGIONAL- Due to the current peak in COVID numbers, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has altered the plan for its Feb. 1 precinct caucuses so that everyone can be safe.
St Louis County Organizing Unit 3 DFL (SLC-OU3) is adopting a Contactless Precinct Caucus system. The unit includes the northern parts of the county including Ely, Babbitt, Tower-Soudan, Cook, Orr, and Nett Lake, plus several precincts in and surrounding Duluth and south through Hermantown and Proctor.
The Contactless Caucus plan means that all those wishing to participate in the caucuses will, instead of attending a meeting in person, submit a non-attendee form. Every person who has submitted the non-attendee form can also submit resolutions. Non-attendee and resolution forms can be submitted in-person, electronically, or mailed. The forms needed to participate can be found online at https://dfl.org/caucus/
“Just download, fill out the forms on your computer, and email them as attachments to St. Louis County DFL at slcou3dfl@gmail.com no later than 9 p.m. on Feb. 1,” said Barb Crow, of Duluth Township, chair of SLC-OU3. “If you don’t know the name of your caucus, you can find it at: http://caucus.dfl.org/ . Your typed signature on the form constitutes your signature.”
For voters who’d like to deliver their forms in person, there will be a number of locations in the unit where people can drop them off. Drop-sites will be open Tuesday, Feb. 1, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. See the SLC-OU3 web page at https://slcou3.com/2022-precinct-caucuses/ for the location of the drop-off sites.
Non-attendee and resolution forms will also be available at the drop-off sites if you want to complete and submit them that night. The Ely DFL Office will have the forms available during regular office hours at 1311 East Sheridan Street, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 - 3 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Some DFL organizing units have chosen to meet in-person with strict coronavirus protection. Go to the DFL website at https://dfl.org/caucus/ to find your unit and what their plans are for caucusing this year.
Some of the procedures for the DFL caucuses have been streamlined to facilitate the contactless format, Crow said.
“If uncontested in their precinct, all of those who indicate on the non-attendee form that they would like to be delegates will be selected as delegates,” Crow explained. “If a precinct has more people wanting to be delegates than there are available slots, a Zoom meeting will be held later in February to draw lots to determine delegates and alternates.” 
According to Crow, all resolutions submitted will be forwarded to the organizing unit resolutions committee for compilation and will then be submitted to the SLC-OU3 convention for consideration. Precinct chairs and vice-chairs will be elected at the unit’s central committee meeting at a later date, following redistricting.  
Crow said the 2022 election season will be critical for the future of our democracy.
“Because of redistricting, which happens every 10 years in response to U.S. Census, all state House and Senate seats are up for election, as are every statewide office and every Congressional District seat,” she said. “The caucus is where grassroots democracy begins, so we hope we have wide participation in the process this year.”
For questions, contact slcou3dfl@gmail.com or call Barb Crow at 218-349-9508.
St. Louis County-06 caucuses will be held in person. Information on caucus locations can be found at dfl.org/caucus. Forms can be mailed or emailed to cathydaniels.cd@gmail.com or mailed to SLC-06, PO Box 494, Hibbing, MN 55746 by Jan. 29, or can be brought to the caucus on Feb. 1.