Confusion over who can caucus and where, 'patently false' claims, reporting delays equal a night of problems in Iowa
Campaigns workers for Democrats reported significant glitches with the new reporting app they were supposed to use to report caucus results Monday night.
Mandy McClure, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party, acknowledged delays, saying they were due to quality checks and the fact the party was reporting three sets of data for the first time.
“The integrity of the results is paramount," McClure said at around 9:30 p.m. "What we know right now is that around 25 percent of precincts have reported, and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016."
Several Democratic precinct chairs reported Monday afternoon they were unable to log into a new phone app to report results.
Bret Niles, chairman of the Linn County Democratic Party, said he was aware of eight of 86 precinct officials in that county that had trouble logging into the app as of about 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Precinct chairs were provided a PIN to test the mobile app, which was different than a login required for Caucus Day. Some might have entered the wrong login credentials Monday, creating temporary problems, Niles said.
But precinct chairs were also able to tabulate results and call them into a hotline instead of using the new app.
The party was criticized for failing to release more information before Caucus Day about the vendor it used to create the reporting app. But party officials said they did that on the advice of national experts to discourage making the vendor a target for hackers.
Other mishaps Monday made for a tense evening.
A caucusgoer said there was confusion Monday at a West Des Moines location that resulted in Elizabeth Warren losing viability when she might not have. Eric Kochneff, 36, of West Des Moines said he attended the Precinct 114 caucus at Stilwell Junior High and was among those supporting Warren.
Kochneff said the group was told 363 were in attendance and that 56 people would amount to 15 percent, meaning a candidate was viable.
"We had 54, so we got two more,” he said. “It looked like we were viable, and then they counted up all the votes again. This time, instead of 363, they had 379 total votes in the room. They went with the higher number, which made the viability number 57."
He complained that people did not get a chance to regroup after learning 11 more people had participated who weren’t registered.
“It devolved into a scene of chaos instead of an orderly political event,” he said.
The higher number made Warren unviable. Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar were all viable.
Pate says bad voter data insinuations are #fakenews
Iowa’s Republican secretary of state chastised a right-wing D.C.-based foundation Monday for circulating false claims on social media suggesting inaccurate voter registrations heading into Caucus Day.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said on Twitter, Facebook and in a news release that eight Iowa counties had total voter registration rates larger than the eligible voter population.
But Secretary of State Paul Pate said early Monday that Fitton’s claims were “patently false," providing a link to actual county-by-county voter registration totals.
"It’s unfortunate this organization continues to put out inaccurate data regarding voter registration, and it’s especially disconcerting they chose the day of the Iowa Caucus to do this," Pate said in a news release.
Judicial Watch conducted an analysis of 2019 data released by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and said Dallas, Johnson, Lyon, Madison, Poweshiek, Dickinson, Scott and Warren counties were among 378 nationwide that had a greater percentage of voter registrations than citizens living there who were old enough to vote.
In an interview with the Register, Fitton said the state reported the data to the commission in 2019 for publication under federal law. He said more recent data is "ephemeral" and cannot be verified again until after the general election in 2021.
"Those numbers will get worse heading into the general election because typically there will be a big uptick in registration in November," he said.
Judicial Watch launched legal challenges in four states that have led to settlements or agreements, including a new process in Los Angeles County to clean up election rolls that "may lead to 1.5 million names being removed."
But Kevin Hall, a spokesperson for Pate, said the organization's analysis included inactive voters in Iowa who have not voted in the past couple of years or responded to multiple mailings. Many of those people have moved, he said.
It also used inaccurate populations for Dallas and Johnson counties, he said.
"If you look at the total number of registered voters right now and (current) populations using the U.S. Census, his numbers are wrong," Hall said. "But instead of doing research, he's doubling down. This is election misinformation."
Hall said the state was required to keep some voters on the rolls reported to the commission for a certain period of time, but those voters would have to take extra steps, like showing an ID, to become active again at the polls.
"Iowa is not Los Angeles County, and we believe our rolls are as clean as accurate as they can be," Hall said. "The numbers don't lie. We're using actual numbers, and they clearly refute what Judicial Watch is saying."
In his news release, Pate said: "My office has told this organization, and others who have made similar claims, that their data regarding Iowa is deeply flawed and their false claims erode voter confidence in elections," Pate said. "They should stop this misinformation campaign immediately and quit trying to disenfranchise Iowa voters.”
Iowa’s voter registration statistics are updated monthly and available on the Secretary of State’s website.
Judicial Watch is a conservative organization that says it investigates official misconduct and promotes "transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law."
It has also been accused of engaging in partisan politics. The organization has drawn fire in other locales for making similar claims of voter registration irregularities based on faulty statistics.
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Since Russian officials tried to interfere in Iowa and other states in the 2016 election, officials in the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties have spent months building a strategy to counteract false claims made on social media heading into the caucuses.
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Felon voting headaches continue
Some people expressed disappointment Monday with Iowa’s ongoing felon voting ban despite an announcement Friday that a backlog of hundreds of felon voter restoration applications had been processed ahead of the presidential caucuses.
Iowa became the last state with a permanent felon voting ban after newly elected Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order in December restoring the rights of roughly 140,000 nonviolent felons.
A database used to track the more than 60,000 Iowans who can’t vote because of the ban has been found in recent years to have thousands of errors.
Gov. Kim Reynolds is pushing the state to approve a constitutional amendment to end the ban. And Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has announced his staff is reviewing each of the files in the database, clearing the flawed list and only using entries that have been verified.
Still, Iowans with felony convictions can’t legally vote until they’ve received clemency, and confusion about the law continued Monday.
Jarvis Guyton, 31, served two years in prison for a drug conviction about a decade ago. The recent college graduate, who played football at Grand View University, had applied to have his rights restored by the caucuses.
But his hopes were dashed when he received a letter Friday from Reynolds’ office.
Reynolds had not approved Guyton’s restoration because he was not on a payment plan to repay all fines, costs and restitution ordered from his most recent felony conviction.
Guyton told the Register on Monday that before the letter from the governor’s office he wasn’t aware of some of the fees, which he said amounts to around $4,000. He said he planned to contact court officials in the next week to set up a payment plan but “is kind of down” that he is prohibited from participating in the 2020 caucuses.
He said he would have acted sooner had he received notice earlier from the governor’s office.
"I think it’s ridiculous, but I will definitely keep trying," said Guyton, noting he hopes to have his voting rights restored by the general election.
The Register was notified of at least one other person who a governor’s spokesman confirmed was — like Guyton — denied voter restoration and informed of outstanding court fees or fines just days before the Monday caucuses.
Reynolds in the last year has simplified the restoration process and waived a $15 application fee.
People who have questions should contact the governor’s staff, said Pat Garrett, a spokesman for Reynolds.
Officials from the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa said Monday evening after the caucuses had begun that they were aware of people who had applied for restoration and were still waiting for a response.
At least one of those people was not current in repayment plans for court fees, fines or restitution, according to information from Reynolds’ office.
“We don’t know the reason that some people have not heard back from the governor’s office on their applications for restoration of voting rights. But we do know it’s concerning that Iowa’s destructive felony disenfranchisement laws continue to make it hard for people to participate directly in the political process," said Daniel Zeno, ACLU of Iowa Director of Policy and Advocacy.
"This is just one more reason for Iowa to join the rest of the country on this issue,”
Caucus site confusion
Party officials — as in previous caucus cycles — dealt with some confusion about caucus site locations.
Some campaign mailers in the final days before the caucuses provided incorrect caucus site addresses, Sean Bagniewski, chairman of the Polk County Democrats, said in a tweet Wednesday.
And the city of Windsor Heights on Monday published incorrect caucus site information in an apparent miscommunication with party leaders.
Bagniewski advised people to confirm their caucus locations, which can be done on the party’s web site or calling their headquarters at (515) 244-7292.
Windsor Heights gave similar advice.
"The city of Windsor Heights is not trying to mislead any caucus-goers," the city posted on Facebook. "Please consult the Iowa Democratic Party to find your caucus location."
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa caucus problems: Reporting delays push back Democratic results
