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Campus News
The Clarion \ February 12, 2020
2020 Iowa Caucus results
By Eleanor Flannery
staff Writer
The 2020 Iowa Caucus was held on Monday,
Feb. 3, and it was quite the “systemwide
disaster.” The statewide caucus encompassed
1,600 precinct locations in determining the
state’s preferred Democratic candidate for the
upcoming presidential election.
The event caused quite the controversy as
there was a major delay in publishing results,
as well as candidates prematurely declaring
victory, leaving anticipated reporters unable to
relay information.
However, many Americans were unsurprised
by the aftermath as this year’s caucus was an
attempt to revise an out-of-date practice.
In years prior, the Iowa Caucus required
voters to be physically present which hindered
the participation of many working Americans.
This year’s election had a change in the
caucusing format previously carried out in
Iowa. In the past, caucusgoers could change
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Unsigned editorials represent the collective opinion of
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their position of support for their candidate
from the first round to the second round, once
it was determined whether or not their candidate
was viable.
As of this year, if a supporter’s candidate is
proved to be viable after the first round, they can
no longer move their support from their caucus
group into the second round.
While this change was made in an effort to save
time, it left room for strategy and negotiation
between groups to gather more support for a
particular candidate which contributed to the
delay in results.
The result of the caucus should have been
determined around 9:45 p.m., an hour and forty-
five minutes after the caucus began, but it did not
go as planned. As the rallying of neighbors at
their local gymnasiums, churches, schools and
other polling venues was underway, reports of
delays in the results flooded news outlets.
Newscasters were left dumbfounded due
to no voting results coming in from the
Iowa Democratic Party. A statement was
finally released before midnight, detailing
how “inconsistencies in the reporting of
three sets of results” were found, according
to Mandy McClure, Iowa Democratic Party
Communications Director.
“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.”
Though it was reported that “the app did not
go down” when voters were using the platform,
it was revealed that voters were having trouble
simply trying to install the app and log in, let
alone use it. On top of that, when chairman
of the Democratic Party in Polk County, Sean
Bagniewski’s assistant went to deliver the first
round of results to the Iowa Democratic Party
headquarters, they were mysteriously turned
away.
Results didn’t start coming in until late
Tuesday afternoon, showing former Mayor Pete
Buttigieg leading with a slight edge over Senator
Bemie Sanders of Vermont, followed by Senator
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in third.
With 100% of the results in, Pete Buttigieg is
polling at 13 delegates (26.2% of the votes), a
narrow win over Senator Bemie Sanders’s 12
delegates (26.1% of the votes).
In an attempt to have a more efficient election,
changes were made in the caucusing format, as
well as the addition of the voting application,
made by Shadow.
Due to the app inconsistencies. The Nevada
Democratic Party, which is to hold their caucus
later this month, announced on Tuesday that it
would not be using Shadow as its vendor.
“We will apply the lessons learned in the
future,” the company said.
Security report
The most recent security reports for Brevard
College have been released as of Monday, Feb.
10 at 12:44 p.m., according to Brevard College
Campus Security.
There have been several incidents of female
students receiving harassing phone calls.
The individual indicates that they have a
pizza delivery, their car was bumped or other
reasons, requesting for the students to come
outside of the dorm and meet them.
The matter is under investigation by Campus
Security and the Brevard Police Department.
The incidents took place on Febmary 6 with
no follow-up calls. It is believed that the
individual was attempting to prank the females
invovled.
Students are cautioned that if they receive
a call, don’t respond, call Campus Security
immediately.
A bicycle was reported stolen in one of the
Villages. Students are reminded not to prop
open any doors in the interest of everyone’s
safety and the security of belongings.
It has been reported that someone cut
doughnuts in the grassy space adjacent to
the turf field. Students are requested not to
engage in this act. Not only does it disfigure
the landscape, but it also costs a considerable
amount of money to repair the damage.
If anyone is observed in this activity they
will receive a ticket, be required to appear
before a campus judicial committee and pay
restitution for the damages.
Everyone is requested to contact Campus
Security at (828)-577-9590 if wrongful or
suspicious activity is observed on campus.
— Zach Dickerson