Caucus night for the Republican and Democratic parties is being held March 5, with the Utah GOP holding its presidential preference poll that night.

The Utah Republican Party is holding its presidential preference poll in replacement of a traditional presidential primary election. The Utah Democratic Party will hold a presidential primary election as usual, with ballots already being mailed out.

Only registered Republican voters can participate in the GOP caucus night and the Republican presidential preference poll.

Utah Republican Party Chair Rob Axson said he hopes to see voters participate in the caucus meetings because they are centered around residents engaging in their neighborhood.

“As American citizens, we have a unique opportunity and obligation to help be civically minded and civically engaged, and being involved in the party process is one wonderful way to do that,” Axson said.

The state’s Republican Party chose to do a presidential preference poll during caucus in lieu of a primary to encourage voters to attend the meetings.

“There are some Utahns who maybe are motivated by the presidential piece but are not familiar with the caucus,” he said. “This is a chance to introduce them to that.”

The caucus meetings are broken into several meeting locations, such as at high schools, based on local precincts and will begin at 6 p.m. Registered Republican voters can find caucus meeting locations on the party’s website, utgop.org.

For GOP caucus attendees who want to participate in the presidential preference polls, ballots will be cast in person at a local caucus meeting. Attendees will need to register for the meeting, where voters will verify their voter registration.

Absentee ballots will be allowed, which requires a family member or friend from the same precinct to take a ballot in along with a photocopy of the voter’s ID. Ballots will be tallied that night and will be anonymous, Axson said.

Unaffiliated voters can register as Republican on March 5 and still participate. The deadline for switching party affiliation, such as from Democratic to Republican, has already passed.

The Republican presidential poll will have three candidates on it: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and Ryan Binkley.

The Democratic presidential primary election is being held the same day, with ballots for registered Democrats or those who have requested a ballot being mailed two weeks ago. Democratic Party primaries are open and available to all voters, not just registered Democrats.

The Democratic primary ballot has five candidates on it: Joe Biden, Gabriel Cornejo, Marianne Williamson, Frank Lozada and Dean Phillips. Williamson, a self-help author, dropped out of the race earlier this month.

The Utah County Democratic Party will be hosting its caucus night at Fox Hollow Elementary School in Lehi at 6 p.m. Voters can preregister on the party’s website, utahdemocrats.org/caucus.

At caucus meetings for both Republican and Democratic parties, elections for party delegates and precinct officers will be held.

Axson said GOP party delegates work to vet the many Republican candidates who are running for elected office at the convention, and added that it’s important for those delegates to be representative of the precincts they represent.

“These delegates, both on the county and state level, that are elected from your precinct, they have a very strong role to play in engagement with various candidates for office,” he said.

Statewide party conventions for both Democratic and Republican parties will be April 27, where delegates will vote to nominate candidates for dozens of races, such as for U.S. Senate or the state Legislature.

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