Technology glitches prevent same-night release of Iowa caucus results

Enlarge / Voters hold up presidential preference cards during the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus at the Southridge Mall in Des Moines. (credit: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Iowa caucuses are the first official event of the 2020 race for the Democratic nomination. Traditionally, results from the Iowa caucuses start being released shortly after the meetings wrap up around 9pm CT. But people who tuned in to see the results this evening were disappointed, as technical glitches delayed the release of results by hours. As I write this around midnight CT, there are still no numbers available.

It's not yet clear exactly what has happened, but early indications suggest that technical problems with the Democratic Party's reporting system are to blame. In particular, a new smartphone app for precincts to report back to party headquarters apparently isn't working properly.

A caucus isn't like a normal election where the candidate with the most votes wins. Instead, voters at each precinct site hold a meeting to select delegates to represent them at county and state meetings of the Democratic party. Voters back delegates who support their preferred presidential candidate, so votes for delegates are effectively votes for presidential candidates. But the distribution of voters at each precinct site can impact who gets the most delegates.

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