The first contest in the 2020 presidential election devolved into chaos Monday night as the results of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses were badly delayed. A state Democratic Party official cited “inconsistencies” as one reason for the wait.
Hours after the caucuses began at nearly 1,700 precinct sites around the state, the results had barely begun to crawl in, triggering widespread confusion and reports of technical failures associated with the party’s reporting system.
A representative from the Iowa Democratic Party said the delay was due to “quality checks” and complications involved in processing data. For the first time in 2020, the party is reporting three sets of numbers: voters’ initial candidate preferences, their final candidate preferences, and the number of state delegates awarded.
“We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report,” said Iowa Democratic Party communications director Mandy McClure. “This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.”
The long delay left even the candidates flying blind, with aides from multiple top-tier campaigns admitting they were in the dark about both the results and the causes of the delay.
The chaos produced a bizarre election-night tableau, with a succession of candidates taking the stages at their respective headquarters to deliver triumphant speeches without knowing the results.
“I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the projected caucus front-runners, told his supporters in Des Moines. “And when those results are announced I have a good feeling that we’re going to be doing very, very well in Iowa.”
The confusion threatened to overshadow the ultimate results. “A lot of people are already angry with the Iowa caucuses because we are not a diverse state. And this happens,” says Rob Tully, former Iowa Democratic Party chairman and a precinct captain for former Vice President Joe Biden. “The party’s incompetence is the headline of the night.”
Read TIME’s coverage of the Iowa caucuses
- Everything You Need to Know About How the Iowa Caucuses Work
- Meet the Unofficial Iowa Caucus Whisperer Helping to Shape the Race
- Disability Advocates Push to Make the Iowa Caucuses More Accessible
- As Democratic Primaries Kick Off, President Trump Launches His Own Show
- Facing First 2020 Test, Joe Biden Is Doing Things His Way
- Joe Biden Positions Himself as the Anti-Bernie Sanders in Iowa and Beyond
- How the Democratic Party Missed the Power of Bernie Sanders—Again
- Inside Bernie Sanders’ Iowa Ground Game
- How Pete Buttigieg’s Sexuality Shaped His Campaign
- Pete Buttigieg’s Closing Argument in Iowa is All About Tone
- Why Elizabeth Warren Connects With Young Girls in Iowa
- Elizabeth Warren Is Stranded in Washington. Can Her Iowa Ground Game Lift Her to Victory?
- Amy Klobuchar Distances Herself From Her Progressive Rivals, Emphasizes Kitchen Table Issues in Closing Iowa Pitch
- ‘Who Better to Talk About My Mom?’ Amy Klobuchar’s Daughter Takes on the Iowa Campaign Trail
- Andrew Yang Considers Who His Supporters Will Back if He’s Not Viable in Iowa
