Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Feb. 6 that Iowa’s Democratic Party needs to conduct a recanvass of the state, following confusion and delayed results during this week’s caucus.
With all the results reported, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had 26.2 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively, of the Iowa state delegate equivalents. Officials blamed the delay in the caucus results on a “coding issue” in a vote-recording app.
“A recanvass is a review of the worksheets from each caucus site to ensure accuracy,” he said, adding that the state Democratic Party “will continue to report results.”
The Iowa Democratic Party said that it wouldn’t conduct a recanvass unless a candidate requested one, as outlined in the Iowa Delegate Selection Plan. According to the party’s rules, a committee comprised of state party officials will assess any requests from candidates for a recanvass or recount.
The caucus results weren’t immediately available on Feb. 3, the day of the caucuses, but they have slowly been released in the days since then. Shadow Inc., which created the election app, issued a statement, with CEO Gerard Niemira saying he felt “terrible” for the mishap.
“I’m really disappointed that some of our technology created an issue that made the caucus difficult,” he said.
Buttigieg declared victory on Feb. 3, with no results yet released, which prompted consternation among his rivals, including Sanders, who declared victory on Feb. 6 with all the results reported.
“By all indications, we are going onto New Hampshire victorious,” Buttigieg told supporters. His campaign later said he was citing internal data.
Meanwhile, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was in third place with 18 percent of the total equivalents, former Vice President Joe Biden in fourth with 15.8 percent, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in fifth with 12.3 percent.
Biden, who was widely seen as the Democratic front runner in 2019, tried to put a positive spin on his performances in the caucuses.