In 2016, Democrat caucuses descended into near-riots, as the Bernie Bros rather churlishly noticed that the party was blatantly rigging the contest in favour of Hillary Clinton. This election, the Dems are trying to be a little more subtle about it. No one’s died under suspicious circumstances – yet – and the party has cleverly disguised its black ops against Joe Biden as a farcical impeachment trial.
But, at its first vote in the Iowa caucuses, the curtain has twitched a little, almost showing the hidden figures frantically fiddling the dials and wheels of the voting machines.
Problems with a mobile app appeared to force a delay in reporting the results of the Iowa caucuses Monday, as the campaigns, voters and the media pressed party officials for an explanation and got few answers. An Iowa Democratic Party official pointed to “quality control” as the source of the delays…The party also said the delay was not caused by a “hack or an intrusion.”
So, at least this time they’re not blaming Russia. Yet.
But other officials blamed technology. Des Moines County Democratic Chair Tom Courtney said he heard that in precincts across his county, including his own, a mobile app created for caucus organisers to report results to the party was “a mess”.
Maybe too many Democrats downloaded the FaceTime app, months ago. You can never be too careful with those wily Russians!
The apps were barely working, forcing party aides to record results from the precincts via phone and enter them manually into a database, according to a person involved in processing the data who requested anonymity to discuss the party’s internal process.
After all, anonymity helps prevent being shot in the back of the head in a dark alley.
The problems were an embarrassment for a state party that has long sought to protect its prized status as the first contest in the primary race. The delay was certain to become fodder for caucus critics who call the process antiquated and exclusionary.
President Donald Trump’s campaign quickly seized on the issue to sow doubt about the validity of the results.
theaustralian.com.au/world/dday-for-democrats-as-rivals-do-the-iowa-hustings-hustle/
Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale publicly wondered whether “quality control” was the new euphemism for rigging. He also added that the Democrats “can’t even run a caucus and they want to run the government”.
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