Thread by @tripgabriel

Hello fellow IA caucus nerds. Tonight the IDP chair @troymprice sent an internal email that the party attorney says any re-examination of precinct results *cannot* change the results on caucus math worksheets, even if they are wrong. 1/2

https://twitter.com/tripgabriel/status/1226261270711717891

@troymprice Quoting the opinion of the IDP attorney:

"The incorrect math on the Caucus Math Worksheets must not be changed to ensure the integrity of the process...."
2/r

@troymprice "...Most importantly the Worksheet is the caucus chair and secretary's "certification" of the results as required by Iowa Code 43.4(2-3). It is the legal voting record of the caucus, like a ballot. "

3/3

@troymprice Here's more from the attorney (someday I'll learn how to tweet a document):

"The IDP's role is to facilitate the caucus and tabulate the results. Any judgement of math miscalculations would insert personal opinion into the process..."

@troymprice "...by individuals not at the caucus and could change the agreed upon results. That action would be interfering with the caucus' expression of their preferences...."

@troymprice "There are various reasons that the worksheets have errors and may appear to not be accurate, however changing the math would change the information agreed upon And certified by the caucus goers...."

@troymprice "If campaigns want further recourse they will need to work all of the way through the process to a Recount where the Presidential Preference Cards are opened and counted."

FIN

More. From the guidance the IDP sent to the campaigns yesterday:

"The Iowa Democratic Party continues to be fully committed to ensuring the accuracy of the caucus data that we report, and we want to make sure that the data reported matches the precinct records of result..."

"As such, the IDP will accept documentary evidence from presidential campaigns of inconsistencies between the data reported and the records of results for correction. The inconsistencies must show a discrepancy between the Caucus Math Worksheet and the publicly reported results"

Oh, and btw, a recount --going back to the "presidential preference cards" that each caucus-goer was supposed to turn in -- wouldn't be definitive either. Random caucus chairs I interviewed said several people in the room who voted never turned in their cards for whatever reason

Here's my NYT-storified version of all this

nytimes.com/2020/02/09/us/…