But now, after the state party “found inconsistencies in the reporting†of the results, the candidates are still in the dark regarding how caucusgoers felt Monday night.
“The integrity of our process, and the results have and always will be our top priority,†Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) Chairman Troy Price told reporters during a 2 a.m. call. “At this point, the IDP is manually verifying all precinct results... We want to emphasize that this is a recording, not a hack on intrusion. And it's exactly why we have a paper trail and systems in place to uphold the integrity of our process.â€
The results are now expected sometime today, Price said, noting it’s “taking longer than expected†to validate the data they have against the paper trail.
“We have said all along, we have these backups in place for exactly this reason. We are updating campaigns and we will continue to provide updates as they are available,†he said.
Just ten minutes before the caucuses began, Price told reporters outside the media filing center that usually, results start coming in around 9 p.m., an hour after the contest kicks off. But 9 p.m. came and went, and then 10 p.m. came and went, and, at 10:45 p.m., an update from the Iowa Democratic Party finally arrived.
"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,†communications director Mandy McClure said, adding that about 25% of precincts had reported.
A half hour before midnight, a new statement came from the Iowa Democratic Party, saying it had “found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results.â€
The party insisted it was “simply a reporting issue,†and that the app being used to submit results to the state party “did not go down.â€
“This is not a hack or an intrusion,†communications director Mandy McClure said. “The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.â€
Just before midnight, the Biden campaign’s general counsel requested the Iowa Democratic Party update the campaigns before anything was reported, citing the “considerable flaws†in the contest's reporting system.
“We believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released,†general counsel Dana Remus wrote in a letter to the IDP.
Despite the lack of official results campaigns tried to spin the night in their favor, as they moved on to the next contest the first in the nation primary in New Hampshire. ■