The Iowa Caucus was last night and this morning , or else of results and the usual squabbling discourse , everything is a giant clusterfuck . At the center of the swirling mass of fuckery is an app commissioned by the Iowa Democratic Party . As early as Monday afternoon , reportsbegan filtering in that the app was glitching for precinct master and by the remainder of the even , it was clear thosetechnicaldifficultieswere far-flung across the state .
Earlierreportsstated the app had supposedly been test and vet by sovereign parties and the Department of Homeland Security , but the app shaper and how the app was tested was a near kept secret in a bidding to minimize the chances of election interference — a determination that some cybersecurity expertsquestioned , as obscureness does n’t necessarily adequate security .
https://gizmodo.com/iowa-caucus-results-may-take-a-few-more-hours-to-roll-i-1841437068
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As it turns out , perhaps those concern were well - set up . A New York Timesreportnotes that the app in question was hastily built a mere two months ago and was untested on a statewide scale . The written report also cite Christopher C. Krebs , the director of Homeland Security Department ’s cybersecurity division , as say his agency had not vetted or evaluated the app , ostensibly contradicting anearlier NYT written report . Another issue is that the app had never go through final stage - user testing at shell — meaning the first time many precinct chair even tried using the app was on Monday , with many downloading it for the first time hours before the caucus commence . To make matter sorry , it also appears that party officialsalso had n’t been trainedon how to use the app . ( Though , a separate Politicoreportquoted an anonymous party functionary who say app training was part of unpaid worker grooming . )
Before you put on your tin hydrofoil chapeau , it should be mark this is n’t the first clock time an app has been used during the Iowa Caucus to account results . similarly , there ’s no indication that the app was cut and , the role of the app was always optional . The delay in results is instead , being pinned on “ quality control,”overloaded earpiece stock , and double - checking upshot with the newspaper publisher track .
“ We find oneself inconsistencies in the reporting of three set of resultant role . In gain to the tech systems being used to tabulate results , we are also using exposure of solution and a newspaper publisher trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and truth in the numbers we account , ” said Mandy McClure , the Iowa Democratic Party ’s communications music director , in a written statement last night . “ This is simply a reporting issue , the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an invasion . The underlying data and paper track is sound and will just take time to further report the results . ”
The Iowa Democratic Party doubled down on that this morning , releasing astatementon Twitter that translate “ As part of our investigation , we determined with certainty that the underlie information collect via the app was levelheaded . While the app was immortalise data accurately , it was describe out only fond data . We have regulate that this was due to a taunt issuing in the coverage system . ” The statement goes on to say that the issue was identified and fixed , and that it did n’t touch on overall data accuracy .
The statement did not address why the app was only reporting fond data , and whether that problem would have even been an payoff in the first place with more rigorous vetting and testing .
It ’s important to emphasize that there is a composition track and each political campaign also has its own intimate tallies of the resolution . There are checks and balances to keep everything above board .
The official line does n’t absolve the app of further examination . According to theLA Times , the app was create by a technical school inauguration calledShadowthat ’s staffed by former members of Hillary Clinton ’s 2016 campaign . Its web site describe itself as “ a constant familiar ” that build “ a farsighted - terminus , side - by - side “ Shadow ” of tech infrastructure to the Democratic Party and the progressive community at heavy . ” FEC disclosures also show that Pete Buttigieg ’s hunting expedition establish Shadow$42,500 in July 2019for “ software program rightfulness and subscription . ” What all that intend is unclear , but we know for certain that “ Shadow ” was an unfortunate branding selection .
Shadow is alsoan armofACRONYM , a Democratic nonprofit founded in 2017 that runs “ 12 of place medium broadcast to train , inspire , read , and mobilize voter . ” In addition to Shadow , ACRONYM was also an investor inCourier NewsroomandLockwood Strategy . The latter is a strategy house founded by Tara McGowan , a former diary keeper and digital producer for former President Obama ’s 2012 run . ( She ’s also the co - beginner of ACRONYM itself . ) That suppose , ACRONYM has curiously distanced itself from Shadow , claim in atweetthat it was not a technical school supplier to the Iowa caucus and that it , “ like everyone else , [ is ] thirstily wait more information from the Iowa Democratic Party with obedience to what happened . ”
Gizmodo has reached out to Shadow and ACRONYM , but did not immediately receive a response . Shadow did discover time to carry ajob listingfor a Client Success Representative on Wednesday .
All of this is enough to make anyone ’s head spin , so it ’s a not bad thing to note that the app is also slated to be used in theupcoming Nevada caucus . Or you bed , given what we know now , the Nevada Democratic Party could do us all a solid and just not .
Update , 2025-04-12 , 2:30pm :
A few developments . Senator Mark R. Warner , vice president of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the cobalt - president of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus , make out a statement regarding Iowa . In it , he says , “ As the Department of Homeland Security has state , there is no indicant that the failures associated with the app from last night ’s caucuses were the result of malicious cyber activity . ” He also go on to note that the resulting confusion highlight how genuinely drive in the current election scheme is .
“ But what we ’ve also realize that this pandemonium has created an environment where misinformation is now run rampant online , further subvert self-confidence in the popular process , ” Senator Warner added . “ As we ’ve seen in the past tense , strange actors like Russia and China wo n’t hesitate to latch onto this variety of subject matter for tally to the domestic discordance and distrust in our elections . ”
Furthermore , Shadow itself hasissued an apologyon Twitter . “ We sincerely yours regret the delay in the reporting of the event of last night ’s Iowa caucuses and the dubiety it has induce to the candidate , their effort , and Democratic caucus - goers . ”
Well , at the very least , it also now appears that Nevada has seen the shitshow , andwill not be using the app . In a statement , William McCurdy II , the chairwoman of the Nevada State Democratic Party , write “ NV Dems can confidently say that what happened in the Iowa caucus last night will not occur in Nevada on February 22nd . We will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus . We had already develop a series of backing and redundant reporting systems , and are currently judge the unspoilt path forward . ”
Shadow
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