The Iowa Democratic Party has released a statement related to the delay in results tonight, insisting the issues are “simply a reporting issue” and not related to a hack of the system.
"We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results,” IDP Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement. “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. 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."
According to aides with various Democratic campaigns, the IDP is holding a briefing call with campaigns. Details on the contents of the call were not immediately available.
But on the ground, there are reports of app malfunctions that delayed reporting, according to Des Moines County Democratic Party Co-Chairman Tom Courtney.
“The app didn’t work. Things didn’t work out right. I’ve been trying to call for several hours to report my results,” Courtney told NPR. “And I can’t, I can’t, get through the phone. It’s a phone number, and I can’t get through. That number is constantly busy.”
Instead, Courtney said, he’s now going home and will call and report his precinct’s results in the morning.
NPR’s Miles Parks andIPR's Kate Payne previously reported on concerns over the new use of a smartphone app for reporting results.