BPOU stands for Basic Political Operating Unit. What that really means though, is that a BPOU is the lowest level of political organization. In rural areas, a BPOU may be an entire county. However, in urban areas, the BPOU encompasses only a particular Senate District or even a single House District.

The BPOU operates as a fairly independent group. It has it’s own leadership, membership, budget, etc. Each BPOU endorses members during election years at it’s caucuses. And during off-election years holds conventions to elect officers and other business.

However, a BPOU is also part of hierarchy. Unless, the BPOU is a House District, it will have House Districts within it. Each House District is representated in the state legislature by a Representative. In addition, each BPOU encompasses quite a few precincts. These precincts vary in size but are used to help organize votes and voting locations on Election Day.

A BPOU may contain an entire city, or only part of one. It may contain several cities, or be part of several. A BPOU may encompasses an entire county, or only part of one. It may also contain parts of several counties as well.

To make this even more confusing, the boundaries of a BPOU can change when the legislature does it’s redistricting every ten years.