Technical Reporting Issue Delays Results From Iowa Caucuses

By Miles Parks,

Published February 4, 2020 at 5:11 AM EST

The Iowa Democratic Party says an unusual delay in reporting caucus results on Monday night was due to "inconsistencies" they found in a few results sets, not "a hack or intrusion."

A new smartphone app was supposed to help elections officials transmit results from the caucus sites to the state party leaders, but there were various issues with the technology. The backup phone hotline swelled, and many of those trying to report results couldn't get through.

NPR reported there were multiple concerns about how the app would work, including whether it would be secure, ahead of the election.

Listen at the audio link above to hear what happened and how it played out on the ground. Follow NPR live coverage here.

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Miles Parks

Miles Parks is a reporter on NPR's Washington Desk. He covers voting and elections, and also reports on breaking news.

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Don Gonyea

You're most likely to find NPR's Don Gonyea on the road, in some battleground state looking for voters to sit with him at the local lunch spot, the VFW or union hall, at a campaign rally, or at their kitchen tables to tell him what's on their minds. Through countless such conversations over the course of the year, he gets a ground-level view of American elections. Gonyea is NPR's National Political Correspondent, a position he has held since 2010. His reports can be heard on all NPR News programs and at NPR.org. To hear his sound-rich stories is akin to riding in the passenger seat of his rental car, traveling through Iowa or South Carolina or Michigan or wherever, right along with him.

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