Iowa Democrats on Saturday cracked open the door toward allowing voters to participate in future Iowa presidential caucuses by absentee ballot. The Iowa Democratic Party Caucus Review Committee, meeting in Des Moines, discussed preliminary recommendations to the state party leadership to update the caucus process. Among the draft proposals would be to create a new process to allow more people to participate despite work conflicts, disabilities, out-of-state travel or the need for child care. “I think it’s a great way to expand access,” committee member Marcia Nichols of Des Moines said. “I think you are including people who are 24/7 workers, you’re including people who just can’t get to caucuses because of their physical limitation,” she said.