Nevada Democrats abandon caucus app after Iowa election fiasco

By Allison Matyus Published February 11, 2020

Nevada wants to avoid the tech mishaps that plagued the Iowa caucuses, announcing it would not use a controversial results-tracking app, opting instead for paper-based balloting for this weekend’s start of the state’s early voting process.

The Associated Press reports that Nevada Democratic Party Executive Director, Alana Mounce, said in a memo on Tuesday that the party is working to simplify the process and build in “additional redundancies” to minimize any tech errors.

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The only technology that will be used is in the voter check-in process. Volunteers will use iPads to check in early voters who will then fill out their paper ballots, which will be turned in and scanned as usual.

“Each voter will be given a card with the voter registration ID number and a PIN, both of which the voter will enter when checking in online via a Google form,” the Associated Press reports.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nevada originally planned to use the same app created by developer Shadow that was used for the Iowa caucuses, but announced the day after the caucus that they would be going in a different direction.

“We will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus,” said Nevada Democratic Party Chair, William McCurdy II. “We had already developed a series of backups and redundant reporting systems, and are currently evaluating the best path forward.”

Nevada’s caucus takes place on Saturday, February 22, but early voting takes place from February 15 to 18.

Digital Trends reached out to the Nevada Democratic Party to find out if any technology will be used on the actual voting day of February 22, as well as what precautions they are taking to make sure it goes smoothly. We will update this story when we hear back.

Technology was to blame for the fiasco that was the Democratic Iowa caucus last week, which delayed results by more than 15 hours.

Caucus workers reported that they couldn’t get the app to work and that some workers even initially forgot to download the app ahead of time. Iowa Democratic Party chair Troy Price later said that the app’s issue had to do with coding. The results of the Iowa caucuses are still in dispute.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…

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