Iowa Democratic Party chairman calls for independent investigation of caucus problems

The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party called for an independent investigation into the problems that caused chaos and delayed Monday night’s caucus results in the Hawkeye State.

“With reports from 100% of the precincts in, we are taking steps to ensure the accuracy of the results. An independent investigation of what happened is necessary once we finalize the results,” tweeted Troy Price, the state party chairman. “@iowademocrats are committed to earning your trust and electing Democrats in Nov.”

With reports from 100% of the precincts in, we are taking steps to ensure the accuracy of the results.

An independent investigation of what happened is necessary once we finalize the results.@iowademocrats are committed to earning your trust and electing Democrats in Nov. pic.twitter.com/7WujXApL01

— Troy Price (@troymprice) February 7, 2020

The statement comes as the state party continues to grapple with reporting inconsistencies from Monday’s vote that sparked confusion over the caucuses’ results.

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were in a dead heat for first place in Iowa among State Delegate Equivalents after 100 percent of the state’s precincts had reported results by Thursday. 

Both Buttigieg and Sanders have declared victory in Iowa as Democrats move on to the next primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday.

The Associated Press has said it is unable to declare a winner in the Iowa caucuses after irregularities and inconsistencies marred the results.

Reviews of caucus results by news outlets and campaigns show a handful of inconsistencies and potential errors, and Price pledged the Iowa Democratic Party would continue to ensure the accuracy of the results from the caucuses.

“[D]ue to delays in reporting and some inconsistencies in data, the [Iowa Democratic Party] continues to be fully committed to ensuring the data reported matches the precinct records of result,” the state party said in a statement.

The Iowa caucuses were first thrown into turmoil Monday night after a new app, which was being tried for the first time and was intended to streamline the reporting process, showed inconsistencies in the outcomes it was tabulating.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez jumped into the fray Thursday, calling for a recanvass of the vote in Iowa. He later backtracked, saying that only the results from precincts with reporting inconsistencies should be recanvassed. 

The Iowa Democratic Party rebuffed Perez’s call and earlier Friday indicated it would defer to the campaigns to document and report inconsistencies in the voting data.

The party said in a statement that it was extending the deadline for the campaigns to request a recanvass or recount of caucus results until Monday at noon Central Standard Time from its previous deadline of Friday at noon.

Iowa Democrats also said candidates could “submit documentary evidence of inconsistencies between the data reported and the records of result for correction” until Saturday at noon Central Standard Time.

— Updated at 4:50 p.m.