Iowa Democratic party altered precinct's caucus results during chaotic night

[Nuclear Unicorn]

Iowa Democratic party altered precinct's caucus results during chaotic night

In the Iowa Democratic party’s chaotic attempt to report caucus results on Monday night, the results in at least one precinct were unilaterally changed by the party as it attempted to deal with the culmination of a rushed and imperfect process overseeing the first-in-the-nation nominating contest.

In Grinnell Ward 1, the precinct where elite liberal arts college Grinnell College is located, 19 delegates were awarded to Bernie Sanders and seven were awarded to Hillary Clinton on caucus night. However, the Iowa Democratic party decided to shift one delegate from Sanders to Clinton on the night and did not notify precinct secretary J Pablo Silva that they had done so. Silva only discovered that this happened the next day, when checking the precinct results in other parts of the county.

The shift of one delegate at a county convention level would not have significantly affected the ultimate outcome of the caucus, but rather, it raises questions about the Iowa Democratic party’s management of caucus night.

...

The party issued a statement early on Tuesday, detailing final delegate numbers that had Clinton winning the caucuses. However, the statement came shortly after party officials gave the impression to the Sanders campaign that no statement with results would be issued at all that night.

Instead, they were told “they would reconvene at 9am and let’s talk”. As of now, Clinton has a lead of just over two-tenths of a percent over Sanders in the overall apportionment of delegates in Iowa. This would equal an overall share of 23 delegates to the national convention for Clinton, to Sanders’ 21. The Iowa Democratic party has refused to audit the results.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/05/iowa-democratic-party-altered-precinct-caucus-results-clinton-sanders?CMP=share_btn_tw

[yourout]

1. The longer this goes with Bernie being a threat the more nasty the Dem higher ups are going to get.

Hate to say it but our leaders are flat out corrupted by $$$$.

[NowSam]

2. A little tiny "mistake" here and there in .02 race

could tip the election to the state chair's favored candidate. ..and it did. And now she refuses to let the people have a closer look. power corrupts.

[nichomachus]

3. The Clinton Brigade will stop at nothing

Cross them at your own risk.

[Avalux]

4. The Democrat Party in Iowa was up to some shenanigans for sure.

I guess they figured if they helped her win by a tiny bit, no one would notice.

[KingCharlemagne]

6. Classic "Pyrrhic Victory" - nt

[winter is coming]

5. Makes me think of the old saw,

"Vote early; vote often; and vote in pencil, so we can correct your mistakes."

[ReallyIAmAnOptimist]

7. We had precinct drama at the '08 caucus...

The PCO and her assistant (rabid HRC supporters) took off with our ballots (the sign-in/voting sheets) before they were counted. The counting should be done in front of everyone, and then the precinct count summary form filled in. My husband and neighbor's husband rushed over to the secluded spot they had gone to and literally took the ballots away from them and brought them back to our precinct tables (we were in a school cafeteria) and counted them with everybody watching, and filled in the form.

We don't doubt for a second that some Obama ballots may have otherwise 'disappeared'. Our precinct and LD did go to Obama, and I think about 2 to 1. We're all neighbors, and all knew each other, otherwise it might have been worse! The same PCO is still in place despite not actually doing her PCO duties... she's a long ago retired realtor and just likes being PCO on paper!

Bottom line: Caucus goers need to keep careful watch on everything as it's done... take NOTHING for granted.