Caucus night is coming. Here’s what Westside voters should know.

On the evening of Tuesday, March 17, neighbors across Salt Lake City’s Westside will head to schools, libraries, and community buildings for one of Utah’s most unique political traditions: caucus night.

In neighborhoods like Rose Park, Glendale, Poplar Grove, and Fairpark, the meetings are often small — sometimes just a few dozen people gathered in a classroom or cafeteria. But what happens there can shape which candidates appear on Utah ballots later in the year.

Utah uses what’s known as a caucus-and-convention system to nominate candidates for office. Instead of relying only on a primary election, the process begins with neighborhood meetings where residents elect delegates to represent their precinct. Those delegates later attend county and state conventions, where they vote on which candidates move forward in the election process.