What Did — And Didn’t — Go Down In The Iowa Caucuses

Yeah, Geoffrey, I bet the high turnout is making things take longer. Like normal elections, everyone in line at 7 p.m. (the scheduled caucus time) is supposed to be allowed in, and I saw some reports on Twitter of people still standing in line at 7 p.m.

The precinct I’m observing is running pretty far behind, Geoffrey, and it doesn’t seem to be technology-related, although there have been reports of “online confusion” with the app. Although I’m an observer with no special insight into what’s happening behind the scenes, the issue here seems to be 1) the lines were long and we got started late, and 2) the process is just really analog and hard to speed up. There’s no way to pass out cards more quickly, or herd people into groups more efficiently. So it seems quite easy for things to get bogged down.

It’s worth noting that there is a chance that the reason we don’t have results yet has to do with an app. This year, precinct chairs were able to use a smartphone app to tally results and send them in to the Iowa Democratic Party. But earlier today, there were reports of chairs having issues with the app, including trouble downloading and confusion about its functionality. There’s a chance that those technical difficulties have led to a slight delay. Luckily, chairs have a backup option, the same old-fashioned technology they’ve used for decades: calling in through a secure hotline.