New Delhi: The Democratic Party primaries began on a controversial note as results of the Iowa caucuses, the first major test for presidential hopefuls in the US, was considerably delayed Tuesday night due to “inconsistencies in data”.
Chaos ensued throughout Tuesday after several of the 11 Democratic candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden, told supporters they seemed to have emerged as the favourite candidate.
Following the confusion, Buttigieg had remarked: “Tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality. So we don’t know all of the results, but we know that by the time it is all said and done, Iowa you have shocked the nation.”
After a delay in tallying, the first set of results from 71 per cent of precincts came late Tuesday night and indicated a narrow-lead for Buttigieg with 26.8 per cent of the state delegates. He is closely trailed by Vermont Senator Sanders with 25.2 per cent.
One thing has emerged as a certainty in the last several hours of confusion and disarray — there were technical glitches and administrative missteps in this US presidential election primary.
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What are Iowa caucuses
While Donald Trump is expected to be the Republican Party candidate for the presidential election on 3 November this year, all eyes are on the Democratic Party that will choose its presidential candidate out of a large field of competitors.
In the US voting system, a party decides on its presidential candidate through caucuses or primaries.
A caucus denotes a meeting of party members for the purpose of choosing a candidate. These meetings can occur in churches, schools, town halls or any other local venues.
Primaries, on the other hand, are preliminary elections in which members of a party go to a polling place to cast a ballot in order to pick their favourite candidate.
The Iowa caucuses typically sets the tone for the presidential election as it is the first test for presidential hopefuls. These caucuses have proven to be important for the Democratic Party in determining a nominee.
In the past 50 years — since 1972 — about eight winners of the Iowa Democratic caucuses have gone on to become the party’s nominee while three (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama) became the president.
Candidates who fare poorly in the Iowa caucuses are most likely to drop out of the primary race.
What went wrong with the Iowa caucuses
The Iowa Democratic Party in a statement Tuesday blamed “inconsistencies in reporting of the three sets of results”.
Mandy McClure, the Iowa Democratic Communication Director, said that a problem had occurred in the tabulation of the results on the new mobile app, specifically designed for the caucuses.
New Iowa Dem Party statement: Found inconsistencies in some results, “this is simply a reporting issue.” pic.twitter.com/jbJcvYLMmg
— Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) February 4, 2020
According to a Bloomberg report, four Democratic chairs claimed they were unable to download the app. The final tally will be drawn up using paper trails and phone calls confirming winners of the caucuses.
Reacting to the debacle, President Trump, who emerged as a clear favourite in the Republican camp, tweeted saying the Iowa Democratic caucuses was an “unmitigated disaster”.
“Nothing works, just like they ran the country…The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is ‘Trump’,” he said.
The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is “Trump”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020
Democratic leaders like Julián Castro also expressed his frustration over the inconclusive results. “This is a total mess. I respect the people of Iowa, they’ve been great — but it’s become very clear that our democracy has been misserved by a broken system,” he tweeted.
This is a total mess. I respect the people of Iowa, they’ve been great—but it’s become very clear that our democracy has been misserved by a broken system. #IACaucus
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) February 4, 2020
He might not be as far from the truth.
The US presidential vote has seen administrative blunders, the most notable among them being the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore which led to a month-long recount in Florida.
Bush had finally assumed the presidency after the Supreme Court ruled in his favour.
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