DNC boss calls for Iowa recanvass

Buttigieg and Sanders locked in close contest with all precincts reported

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee yesterday called for a “recanvass” of the results of the Iowa caucuses, saying it was needed to “assure public confidence” after three days of technical issues and delays. “Enough is enough,” party leader Tom Perez wrote on Twitter.

Following the Iowa Democratic Party’s release of new results yesterday, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg leads Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by two state delegate equivalents out of 2152 counted. That is a margin of 0.09 percentage points.

Both candidates have declared themselves victorious.

However, there is evidence the party has not accurately tabulated some of its results, including those released late yesterday that the party reported as complete.

The Associated Press is unable to declare a winner.

The state party apologised for technical glitches with an app that slowed down reporting of results from Tuesday’s caucuses and has spent the week trying to verify results.

However, it was unclear if the party planned to follow the directive of the national leader to recanvass those results, a process that would likely require state officials to review caucus worksheets completed at more than 1600 caucus sites to ensure the calculations were done correctly and matched the reported results.

Iowa chairman Troy Price suggested in a statement that he would only pursue a recanvass if one was requested by a campaign.

The caucus crisis was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting Iowa as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled 2020 field. Instead, after a buildup that featured seven rounds of debates, nearly US$1 billion spent and a year of political jockeying, caucus day ended with no winner and no official results.

Campaigning in New Hampshire, Sanders called the Iowa Democratic Party’s management of the caucuses a “screw-up” that has been “extremely unfair” to the candidates and their supporters.

“I really do feel bad for the people of Iowa,” said Sanders, who added that it was “an outrage that they were that unprepared”.

Iowa marked the first contest in a primary season that will span all 50 states and several US territories, ending at the party’s national convention in July.

As first reported by The New York Times, numerous precincts reported results that contained errors or were inconsistent with party rules.

The trouble began with an app that the Iowa Democratic Party used to tabulate the results of the contest. The app was rolled out shortly before caucusing began and did not go through rigorous testing.

The problems were compounded when phone lines for reporting the outcomes became jammed, with many callers placed on hold for hours in order to report outcomes. Party officials said the backlog was exacerbated by calls from people around the country who accessed the number and appeared intent on disrupting the process.

President Donald Trump relished in the Democratic turmoil.

“The Democrats, they can’t count some simple votes and yet they want to take over your health care system,” Trump said at a White House event celebrating his impeachment trial acquittal. “Think of that — no, think of that.”

The results released so far show Buttigieg and Sanders locked in a close contest. They lead Senator Elizabeth Warren, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

The two early leaders, Buttigieg and Sanders, are separated by 40 years in age and conflicting ideology. Sanders, a 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist, has been a progressive powerhouse for decades. Buttigieg, a 38-year-old former municipal official, represents the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party. Buttigieg is also the first openly gay candidate to earn presidential primary delegates.