Developer of Faulty Iowa Caucus App Was Entrenched in Democratic Establishment

I am so not surprised. The fierce fight of the darkest of humanity who are entrenched in overwhelming ignorance and late stage addiction to greed — and who are, therefore, hell bent on whatever it takes to crush Bernie Sanders and our political revolution in order to hold on to their deadly power — continues even at the expense of four more years of Trump and leaving our children and grandchildren an uninhabitable planet. This is why our movements for dismantling these systems of extreme and poisonous power AND for building a new world rooted in economic, racial, social, and economic justice are so imperative. May we all unite in this fight for our lives and those of our children and all children everywhere. Truly, everything we love and cherish is at stake. — Molly

The final results of Monday’s Democratic Iowa caucuses remain unknown, with 71% of precincts reporting the final tallies of the first 2020 presidential contest. Senator Bernie Sanders is leading in the popular vote, while former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has a narrow lead of 26.8% of precincts — the state delegate equivalent traditionally used to determine the winner — followed by Sanders with 25.2%. Sanders won the popular vote in both the first and second rounds of voting, followed by Buttigieg and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Former Vice President Joe Biden placed fourth, followed by Senator Amy Klobuchar. It is unclear when full results will be released and how the reporting problems will impact the Democratic race. Democratic officials cited problems with a newly created app built by a firm called Shadow that was supposed to help precincts report results. The Democratic Party in Nevada was also planning to use the app during its upcoming caucuses but abandoned that plan on Tuesday. We speak with Lee Fang, a reporter with The Intercept. His new piece is titled “New Details Show How Deeply Iowa Caucus App Developer Was Embedded in Democratic Establishment.”

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We begin the show in Iowa, where the final results of Monday’s Democratic caucus remain unknown. With 71% of precincts reporting, Senator Bernie Sanders is leading in the popular vote, while former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has a narrow lead in state delegates — the number traditionally used to determine the winner. Sanders won the popular vote in both the first and second round of voting, followed by Buttigieg and then Senator Elizabeth Warren. Former Vice President Joe Biden placed fourth, followed by Senator Amy Klobuchar. Meanwhile, Buttigieg currently has 26.8% of delegate equivalents, followed by Bernie Sanders with 25.2%. But again, about a quarter of the vote still remains to be counted.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s unclear when full results will be released and how the reporting SNAFU will impact the Democratic race. On Tuesday, Senator Bernie Sanders campaigned in Milford, New Hampshire, ahead of Tuesday’s first primary.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I’m very proud to tell you that last night in Iowa we received more votes on the first and second round than any other candidate. Now, that is — that is with 62% of the vote. And for some reason in Iowa they’re having a little bit of trouble counting votes. But I am confident that here in New Hampshire, I know they’ll be able to count your votes on election night. And when you count those votes, I look forward to winning here in New Hampshire.

AMY GOODMAN: Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg celebrated the early Iowa results during a campaign stop in Laconia, New Hampshire. 

PETE BUTTIGIEG: So, we don’t know all of the numbers, but we know this much: A campaign that started a year ago with four staff members, no name recognition, no money, just a big idea, a campaign that some said should have no business even making this attempt, has taken its place at the front of this race to replace the current president with a better vision for the future.


JUAN GONZÁLEZ: During a press conference Tuesday, Troy Price, the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, apologized for the crisis.

TROY PRICE: The reporting of the results and circumstances surrounding the 2020 Iowa Democratic Party caucuses were unacceptable. As chair of the party, I apologize deeply for this. Last night, we were faced with multiple reporting challenges and decided, out of an abundance of caution, to protect the integrity of the Iowa caucuses and their results by taking the necessary steps to review and confirm the data.

AMY GOODMAN: Democratic officials cited problems with a newly created app built by a firm called Shadow that was supposed to help precincts report results. The Democratic Party in Nevada, which was also planning to use the app during its upcoming caucus later in February, abandoned that plan Tuesday.

We’re joined now by reporter Lee Fang of The Intercept. His new piece is headlined “New Details Show How Deeply Iowa Caucus App Developer Was Embedded in Democratic Establishment.”

Lee, lay it out for us. What happened in Iowa?

LEE FANG: Amy, thank you so much for having me.

I mean, there’s no way around this. The delay in reporting the Iowa caucus results is a catastrophe. We’re two days out from the caucus. We still don’t see the full results. This is a dark day for, small D, democracy and a very bad omen for, capital D, the Democratic Party.

Please continue this interview here: https://truthout.org/video/developer-of-faulty-iowa-caucus-app-was-entrenched-in-democratic-establishment/