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Mobile App Snafu Leaves Iowa Caucus Results Uncertain

Ken Bredemeier

   The first, long-awaited contest for the U.S. Democratic presidential
   nomination in the farm state of Iowa was mired in chaos Tuesday, with
   results yet to be announced a day after complicated caucus voting
   ended.

   The state Democratic party was unable to report even a single vote
   count 12 hours after about 100,000 of the party faithful showed up to
   vote for their favorite candidate. Party officials blamed the snafu on
   vote inconsistencies being reported on a mobile app specially designed
   for the vote counting throughout the rural state, which every four
   years stages the first political party voting to eventually pick
   presidential nominees for the national election in November.

   Iowa Democrats said they expect to report results sometime Tuesday, but
   it was not clear when.

   "We are validating every piece of data we have against our paper
   trail," Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price told reporters as the
   vote counting dragged on late Monday and into Tuesday. "That system is
   taking longer than expected but it's in place to ensure we are
   eventually able to report results with full confidence."

   Later, Price declared there was no cybersecurity intrusion in the app.

   He said, "While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting
   out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding
   issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The
   application's reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct
   chairs to report data accurately."

   Price said that through use of paper documentation of the voting at
   more than 1,600 precinct caucuses throughout the state it has "been
   able to verify that the data recorded in the app and used to calculate
   State Delegate Equivalents is valid and accurate."

   Price added, "While our plan is to release results as soon as possible
   today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy
   of the process continues to be upheld."

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