Lots on the line for Microsoft with Iowa caucuses

Providing the technology for such a public data-collection effort carries risks, rewards

Iowa and Microsoft will have a lot at stake Monday evening as Republican and Democratic volunteers in roughly 1,700 precincts start plugging vote totals into their smartphones to deliver the first verdict of the 2016 presidential campaign.

It will be the first time mobile apps have been used in tabulating the re- sults of the Iowa caucuses.

While it may not offer much solace to those organizing the count, it could hardly go worse than it did four years ago.

The Republican results in 2012 became mired in confusion and created an Iowa embarrassment after an especially close race between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

Romney was initially named the winner. Then, more than two weeks later and after a final accounting of most of the paperwork, Santorum was declared the victor by a 34-vote margin out of more than 120,000 cast. Numbers from eight precincts were never found or certified.

With polls showing the race close in Iowa between billionaire Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, there may not be much room for error on Monday, either.

Any major hiccup could further threaten Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, something always coveted by other states that want an earlier shot.

In the past, an automated telephone system was used to file results from each precinct. The system was prone to error because there was less cross-checking to determine if someone accidentally hit a wrong touchtone.

Democratic and Republican party officials have said the new online technology, which Microsoft is providing free of charge, will deliver timely and accurate results.

“We have trained, trained, trained and tested, tested, tested with Microsoft to ensure that our caucus reporters will be able to quickly, accurately and securely transmit precinct reports on caucus night,” said Char- lie Szold, the state Republican party’s communications director.

In a company statement, Microsoft didn’t address a question asked about the potential risks and rewards of having the company’s name on such a public data-collection effort.

“The Iowa caucuses provided a unique non-partisan opportunity to use technology to help evolve the reporting process,” the statement said.

“Microsoft is providing technology and services solely to administer and facilitate a neutral, accurate, efficient reporting system for the caucuses.”