Tipsheet

The Iowa Caucuses Have Devolved Into a Complete and Total Disaster

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  February 03, 2020 10:45 PM

We’re still waiting on preliminary results for the Iowa caucuses. We’ve been waiting for hours. And now we have reports of the Iowa Democratic Party doing a “quality control” review of the results “out of an abundance of caution.” First, The Des Moines Register poll was deep-sixed, though its results were later leaked showing Bernie Sanders at the top of the heap. Reportedly, the Pete Buttigieg campaign voiced a complaint about the survey. And now, we’re holding up preliminary results because of some technical issues. Oh, and once again, Bernie Sanders supporters appear to be getting the short end of the stick at some of these precincts. 

Even New York Times' Nate Cohn said that the "quality control" review raises eyebrows.

President Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted what some are thinking, especially in the Sanders camp: “quality control = rigging?

We have no data, folks. This is mind-boggling. And it could be due to the fact that the app the Iowa Democratic Party is using was reported to have some serious security issues (via WSJ):

Democrats will record the votes from the Iowa presidential caucuses in just over a week using a smartphone app, a procedure that has stirred questions about security.

Party leaders said that the mobile app would make it easier and faster to report results from some 1,700 caucus sites. But critics expressed concern about the reliability of the app amid warnings that cyber adversaries could seek to disrupt the 2020 elections.

Douglas Jones, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Iowa, who has studied election security, called the idea a “security nightmare,” and said that cellphones were difficult to protect against the range of possible threats.

The caucus workers will use the app on their personal smartphones, which Mr. Jones said could be vulnerable, depending on how well the workers take care of their devices.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price defended the plan. “We are confident in the security systems we have in place,” he said.

Iowa Democratic Party releases their official statement:

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Iowa Democratic Party says this disastrous night is centered on a reporting issue. The app is not the issue, nor was the contest hacked. What a night.