Iowa Caucus 2020
Coverage of the Iowa Caucuses from a Minnesota perspective.
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Iowa Democratic Caucus Results Delayed Due To ‘Quality Checks’
Photo by Tom Brenner | Getty Images It’s almost three hours since the Iowa Democratic caucuses began, and we are no closer to knowing who may win the most delegates out of the state.
Just before 11 p.m. ET, the Iowa Democratic Party put out a statement saying that the complicated reporting process is at least one reason for the delay.
"The integrity of the results is paramount. We have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the IDP is reporting out three data sets for the first time. What we know right now is that around 25% of precincts have reported, and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016,” said state party communications director Mandy McClure.
At this time in 2016 and even 2008 — the largest caucuses ever — there was a clear picture emerging about who had the best night. And while there are sparse reports about individual precincts, the Iowa Democratic Party has yet to report its state delegate equivalent numbers, which are the benchmarks that the Associated Press and NPR will use to determine a winner.
But, as McClure notes, the party is now also reporting out the first wave of caucus alignments, followed by the final alignment once caucusgoers decided to caucus for other campaigns if their first choice was not viable. NPR’s Domenico Montanaro explained the differences between the three data sets that will be reported.
Des Moines County Chair Tom Courtney told the AP that technology issues appeared to be contributing to the delay. In his county, he said, “an app created for caucus organizers to report results was ‘a mess’ and organizers were instead having to call in results to the state party.”
— Jessica Taylor, Cook Political Report -
In embarrassing twist, Democrats have no Iowa caucus results
DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- Democratic party officials in Iowa worked furiously Tuesday to deliver the delayed results of their first-in-the-nation caucus, as frustrated presidential candidates claimed momentum and plowed ahead in their quest for the White House.
Technology problems and reporting "inconsistencies" kept Iowa Democratic Party officials from releasing results from Monday's caucus, the much-hyped kickoff to the 2020 primary. It was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting the contest as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field with no clear front-runner.
Instead, caucus day ended with no winner, no official results and many fresh questions about whether Iowa can retain its coveted "first" status.
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With Iowa results unknown, Klobuchar moves on to New Hampshire
Amy Klobuchar took her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to New Hampshire with the results of the leadoff caucuses still unknown. Technical problems held up the Iowa results, but the Minnesota senator insists she did better than people thought she would.
When the Minnesota senator took the stage at her campaign party Monday night, not a single official result had been made public. Her campaign was keeping its own count but the senator didn’t say what that was.
Klobuchar told the crowd in a Des Moines hotel ballroom that she was feeling good about how she would fare in the end.
“We know there’s delays, but we know one thing: We are punching above our weight,” she said.
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What went wrong: Tech troubles behind delay in Iowa results
DES MOINES (AP) -- A new mobile app was supposed to help Democratic officials quickly gather information from some 1,700 caucus sites throughout Iowa. Instead, it's being blamed for delays that left the results unknown the morning after the first-in-the nation nominating contest.
Glitches with a new mobile app Monday caused confusion, and some caucus organizers were forced to call in results for the state party to record manually, introducing delays and the possibility of human error. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price said the delays were not the result of a hack or intrusion.
The party said it expects to release data later Tuesday after manually verifying its data against paper backups.
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At least half Iowa results expected by day's end, Dems say
Caucusgoers check in at a caucus at Roosevelt High School Monday in Des Moines, Iowa. Andrew Harnik | AP Associated Press
Clouded by doubts on a chaotic day-after, Democratic Party officials planned to release a majority of Iowa’s delayed presidential caucus results by late Tuesday, according to details shared with campaigns on a private conference call.
The news did little to stem rising confusion and concern more than 12 hours after voting ended without the release of a single result in the opening contest of the Democrats 2020 primary season.
State party chairman Troy Price informed campaigns that he would release at least 50 percent of all caucus results at 4 p.m. CST, but he declined to answer pointed questions from frustrated campaign representatives about when the party would release the full results or how it could ensure their integrity — even whether it would be a matter of days or weeks.
“We will continue to work through the process,” Price said on the call, which was monitored by The Associated Press. “We want to get some results out there.” FULL STORY
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Iowa disaster has Nevada Dems evaluating their caucus plan
Precinct captain Carl Voss, of Des Moines, Iowa, holds his iPhone that shows the Iowa Democratic Party's caucus reporting app Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa. ~Charlie Neibergall | AP Associated Press
LAS VEGAS - Iowa Democrats’ botched deployment of a mobile app to tabulate results from their caucuses led other early states to try to reassure the public about their plans for the presidential primary.
The brunt of the scrutiny fell on Nevada, which planned to use similar technology at its caucuses in less than three weeks. The Nevada Democratic Party said it was confident that it wouldn't see a repeat of what happened in Iowa.
New Hampshire and South Carolina, which both hold primaries instead of caucuses, said they had similar faith in their well-tested systems. Read more here.
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Early Iowa numbers suggest a tough road ahead for Klobuchar
By Mark Zdechlik | MPR News
If the numbers hold true once everything's counted, Amy Klobuchar does not move on to New Hampshire in the top tier of candidates.
"No one gets momentum out of a fifth-place finish in Iowa,” said Dante Scale, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. He said Klobuchar's apparent poor showing in Iowa could be the end of her presidential campaign.
"Amy Klobuchar needs to be the story coming out of Iowa, and if these results hold, then Pete Buttigieg will be the story. Bernie Sanders will be the story coming out of Iowa,” he said. “Amy Klobuchar will be an afterthought, and to go from being an afterthought to make a serious play in New Hampshire is awfully, awfully difficult." Read more here.
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‘Every vote has to be counted’: Klobuchar weighs in on problems with Iowa caucus results
By Mark Zdechlik | MPR News
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., smiles during a campaign stop in Manchester, N.H., Thursday. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Campaigning in New Hampshire Thursday, Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said all efforts need to be made to ensure every vote in the Iowa caucuses is counted. Klobuchar’s statement came after Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez’s call for a recanvassing of the Iowa caucus vote on Thursday.As for her apparent fifth-place finish, Klobuchar said she did not post a poor showing.
“I just know that I defied expectations, that we did better than what a bunch of those polls out there showed, that I got outspent nearly, in some cases, five to one on the airwaves,” she said. “I was able to go in there and do well enough that I was only a few percentage points off the former vice president of the United States.”
Klobuchar said she will move on to Nevada no matter the outcome of the New Hampshire primary, which takes place Tuesday.
Correction (Feb. 6, 2020): A previous version of this post misstated that Amy Klobuchar supports DNC chair's call for a recanvassing. This post has been updated.