Iowa Democrats can make their presidential pick in the 2024 mail-in caucus. How it works:

Iowa Democrats can now begin requesting ballots for the party's first-ever mail-in presidential caucus, with the results to be announced on March 5, Super Tuesday.

The Iowa Democratic Party announced in May that it would move in 2024 to an absentee caucus system for casting presidential preferences to improve access and participation. In October, party leaders said they would acquiesce to national Democrats and give up their long held first-in-the-nation status in favor of a Super Tuesday contest in March.

"I’m excited to officially begin our 2024 Iowa Caucus process. We’re committed to making this the most inclusive Iowa caucus in history." Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in a news release Wednesday. "Iowans who work a third shift, families that may not have access to childcare or seniors who are homebound can now make their voices heard in our presidential process."

Here's what we know about how the process will work.

Are Iowa Democrats holding a caucus or a primary in 2024?

Iowa Democrats are essentially shifting to a party-run primary, though they continue to use the vocabulary of a caucus.

The party is still calling its presidential nominating event a "caucus," even though it does not require Democrats to gather together to cast presidential preferences.

More: Iowa Democrats compromise with DNC, plan to release 2024 caucus results on Super Tuesday

They have also adopted "presidential preference cards," which will functionally act as ballots. For years, Iowa Democrats have avoided any form of paper balloting to help distinguish their caucuses from New Hampshire's primaries.

Although absentee voting for the caucus begins in January, the results won't be announced until March 5, effectively meaning that Iowa will have a Super Tuesday contest with more than a half-dozen other states.

The party will still hold in-person caucuses on Jan. 15 — the same day Iowa Republicans will hold their traditional first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses — but only to conduct other party business unrelated to picking a presidential nominee. The party said Wednesday that it will announce a list of in-person caucus locations soon.

How can Iowa Democrats request a preference card for the 2024 presidential primary?

Starting Nov. 1, any registered Iowa Democrat may request a presidential preference card through a form that can be submitted online or downloaded, printed and mailed in.

Democrats can go to https://iowademocrats.org/2024-caucus-2 to fill out the online form. A Spanish version of the form is also available on the website.

Alternatively, Democrats can choose to download and print a physical form, rather than filling it out online.

Printed request forms must be mailed to the Iowa Democratic Party at 5661 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, Iowa 50321. Or, Democrats may email their request forms to preferencecardrequest@iowademocrats.org.

Iowa Democrats have until 5 p.m. Feb. 19 to request a ballot. Those ballots will be mailed to participants beginning Jan. 12, 2024.

Iowans with questions or who wish to ask for a request form by phone can call a helpline at (515) 216-3893. The line will be monitored by Iowa Democratic Party staff and volunteers.

The request form requires the requester to attest that they are eligible to vote in the 2024 general election, that they are a registered Democrat and that they live at the address listed on the form.

They will also be required to attest that they have not participated in any other political party's caucus.

How and when do Iowa Democrats need to return their preference cards for the 2024 presidential primary?

Preference cards must be put back in the mail and postmarked by March 5 in order to count.

The Iowa Democratic Party did not share any information Wednesday about how Democrats will be able to send in their preference cards.

What will Iowa Democrats' 2024 presidential preference cards look like?

The party said the preference cards will have Democratic candidates' names printed on them, just as they would be on a ballot.

The Iowa Democratic Party's State Central Committee will meet Dec. 2 to vote on which candidates' names will appear on the preference cards.

When will we know the results of Iowa's 2024 Democratic primary?

Iowa Democrats have said they plan to release the results on March 5, which is known as "Super Tuesday," when voters head to the polls in more than a dozen states. But they have not said at what time they plan to announce the results.

The party says it plans to accept any preference cards postmarked by March 5, even if they arrive later. They have not yet said if there will be a cutoff date when they will no longer accept late-arriving results.

That means that the results the party releases on March 5 could change as late-arriving preference cards are counted.

Who is the vendor and what will this cost?

The Iowa Democratic Party will contract with a team led by Amber McReynolds, who is the founding CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, a nonprofit that encouraged mail-in voting in the 2020 election.

McReynolds was appointed to the U. S. Postal Service board of governors by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2021. She formerly worked as director of elections for the city and county of Denver.

Her LinkedIn profile lists her as the principal and founder of Strategy Rose LLC.

"It’s important to me that this process runs smoothly and that’s why we’re excited to partner with Amber and her team, which has a combined 50 years of election administration experience," Hart said in the news release.

The Iowa Democratic Party has not said how much it expects the process to cost, though it expects it will be less than the 2016 and 2020 caucuses.

Because it is not a state-run primary conducted by state infrastructure, the Iowa Democratic Party will bear the cost, like it always has for the caucuses. But since Iowa Democrats are no longer holding the first-in-the-nation contest, there's likely to be less money coming in from donors or through major fundraisers that helped support previous caucuses.

How will Iowa Republicans caucus in 2024?

Iowa Republicans will continue to caucus the same way they have for decades. They will meet at 7 p.m. Jan. 15 at precinct locations scattered across the state to cast their own presidential preferences in person.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Here's how Iowa Democrats will a presidential pick by mail for 2024