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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 7 February 2020
DNC chair calls for 'recanvass' of Iowa results after delays

By STEVE PEOPLES, JULIE from the first alignment tally
PACE and BRIAN SLODYSKO to the final, which is also in-
Associated Press consistent with party rules.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Some precincts made ap-
chairman of the Demo- parent errors in awarding
cratic National Committee state delegate equivalents
on Thursday called for a to candidates. A handful of
"recanvass" of the results of precincts awarded more
the Iowa caucuses, saying state delegate equivalents
it was needed to "assure than they had available. A
public confidence" after few others didn't award all
three days of technical is- of theirs.
sues and delays. The trouble began with an
"Enough is enough," party app that the Iowa Demo-
leader Tom Perez wrote on cratic Party used to tabu-
Twitter. late the results of the con-
With 97% of precincts re- test. The app was rolled
porting, Pete Buttigieg, out shortly before caucus-
a former mayor of South ing began and did not go
Bend, Indiana, and Ver- through rigorous testing.
mont Sen. Bernie Sanders The problems were com-
are nearly tied for the lead, pounded when phone
and both candidates have In this Nov. 20, 2019 file photo, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez, speaks lines for reporting the out-
declared themselves victo- before a Democratic presidential primary debate in Atlanta. comes became jammed,
rious. Associated Press with many callers placed
The Associated Press said on hold for hours in order to
Thursday that it is unable for technical glitches with view caucus math work- campaign. report outcomes. Party offi-
to declare a winner in the an app that slowed down sheets completed at more The caucus crisis was an cials said the backlog was
contest. Beyond technical reporting of results from than 1,600 caucus sites to embarrassing twist after exacerbated by calls from
issues and Perez's concerns, Monday's caucuses and ensure the calculations months of promoting Iowa people around the country
the Iowa Democratic Party has spent the week trying were done correctly and as a chance for Democrats who accessed the number
has yet to report results to verify results. However, matched the reported re- to find some clarity in a jum- and appeared intent on
from some satellite caucus it was unclear if the party sults. bled 2020 field. Instead, af- disrupting the process.
sites, from which there are planned to follow the direc- Iowa chairman Troy Price ter a buildup that featured "There was a moment in
still an unknown number of tive of the national leader suggested in a statement seven rounds of debates, the night where, it became
state delegate equivalents to recanvass those results, Thursday that he would nearly $1 billion spent na- clear, 'Oh, the phone num-
to be won. a process that would likely only pursue a recanvass if tionwide and a year of ber just became available
The state party apologized require state officials to re- one was requested by a political jockeying, caucus to the entire country,'" said
day ended with no winner Iowa state Auditor Rob
and no official results. Sands, who was answering
Campaigning in New calls for the party. "It was a
Hampshire, Sanders called pretty big problem."
the Iowa Democratic Par- President Donald Trump
ty's management of the relished in the Democratic
caucuses a "screw-up" that turmoil.
has been "extremely unfair" "The Democrats, they can't
to the candidates and their count some simple votes
supporters. and yet they want to take
"I really do feel bad for the over your health care sys-
people of Iowa," said Sand- tem," Trump said at a White
ers, who added that it was House event Thursday cel-
"an outrage that they were ebrating his impeachment
that unprepared." trial acquittal. "Think of that
Iowa marked the first con- — no, think of that."
test in a primary season The chaos surrounding
that will span all 50 states the reporting breakdown
and several U.S. territories, seems sure to blunt the
ending at the party's na- impact of Iowa's election,
tional convention in July. which typically rewards
As first reported by The winners with a surge of
New York Times, numerous momentum heading into
precincts reported results subsequent primary con-
that contained errors or tests. But without a winner
were inconsistent with par- called, Democrats have
ty rules. For example, the quickly turned their focus
AP confirmed that dozens to New Hampshire, which
of precincts reported more holds the next voting con-
final alignment votes than test on Tuesday.
first alignment votes, which The results released so far
is not possible under party show Buttigieg and Sanders
rules. In other precincts, vi- locked in an exceedingly
able candidates lost votes close contest.q