Thread by @reidepstein

Let us count the ways the Iowa caucuses become an epic fiasco

Call center volunteers needed two-factor authentication to log into the system, but they were told not to bring phones. So they shared one iPad
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w/@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker 1/x

@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker Melissa Watson, the Iowa Democratic Party's chief financial officer, who was in charge of the caucus night boiler room, did not know how to operate a Google spreadsheet application used to input data about caucus results.

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@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker When Iowa's results app failed, precinct leaders were told to send photos of their results worksheets to a dedicated email address.

But nobody checked the email address. There were 700 unread messages by Tuesday morning, with most photos sent sideways.

nytimes.com/2020/02/09/us/…

@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker DNC Chairman @TomPerez laid the blame squarely on Iowa Democrats and their beleaguered chairman @troymprice.

“Troy Price was doing his best, but it wasn’t enough," Perez told us.

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@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker @TomPerez @troymprice For months, the DNC & Iowa Democrats fought over how to conduct the caucuses. In July the DNC proposed Iowa use contact language for its tech vendors that gave the DNC access to everything. Iowa Dems said no.

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@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker @TomPerez @troymprice Things were going so bad in Des Moines that the DNC executed its plan in place for a natural disaster or a terror attack: Reroute calls with precinct results to DNC HQ in Washington. Forty DNC staffers in DC took calls from Iowa caucus leaders.

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@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker @TomPerez @troymprice Campaigns were totally in the dark.

One floor below IDP & DNC leaders, reps from the 2020 campaigns stewed. A Klobuchar aide proposed going up and banging down the doors. But nobody knew what they'd do after that. So they waited.

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@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker @TomPerez @troymprice It took three days for Iowa Democratic Party volunteers to check all the caucus results worksheets that arrived by email. One results page didn't reach Des Moines until Thursday -- it had been sent through the Postal Service.

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@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker @TomPerez @troymprice And the results @iowademocrats finally posted online?

A @UpshotNYT review found at least 10% had improperly allocated delegates - mistakes in all 99 counties. But signed precinct worksheets are final documents -- they can't be fixed in a recanvass.

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@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker @TomPerez @troymprice @iowademocrats @UpshotNYT And @troymprice, the Iowa Democratic Party chairman who spent caucus week hobnobbing at the Des Moines Marriott bar and doing nonstop cable TV hits, has refused interviews since the caucus disaster. He had a junior staffer send a statement from him.

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@melbournecoal @tripgabriel @ByMikeBaker @TomPerez @troymprice @iowademocrats @UpshotNYT This sort of story -- with 15 reporters and editors @jialynnyang and @patrickhealynyt crashing for three days -- is only possible thanks to the resources of a major news organization. If you like this stuff, subscribe today at nytimes.com/subscription

nytimes.com/2020/02/09/us/…