Iowa Results Delayed, But Officials Confirm 'Not a Hacking'

Problems with a mobile app appeared to force a delay in reporting the results of the Iowa caucuses Monday, as the campaigns, voters and the media pressed party officials for an explanation and got few answers.

An Iowa Democratic Party official pointed to "quality control" as the source of the delays — but noted that about a quarter of the state's nearly 1,700 precincts have reported their data already. The party also said the delay was not caused by a "hack or an intrusion."

But other officials blamed technology. Des Moines County Democratic Chair Tom Courtney said he heard that in precincts across his county, including his own, a mobile app created for caucus organizers to report results to the party was "a mess."

President Donald Trump's campaign quickly seized on the issue to sow doubt about the validity of the results.

"Quality control = rigged?" Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted Monday evening, adding a emoji with furrowed brows.

And Parscale issued a statement:

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history. It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire healthcare system? Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent."

Joe Biden declared success in Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses despite results not yet being released.

"We feel good about where we are, so it's onto New Hampshire," Biden said Monday night, adding that he'd "walk out of here with our share of delegates."

Biden has said he did not have to win Iowa to win the nomination, but he wanted to avoid a bad showing.

Several donors attending his Des Moines watch party said they want to see Biden finish in the top three in Iowa to boost confidence going forward as the race moves to more diverse states where Biden is expected to be stronger.

For his part, Biden stuck to his usual argument, making President Donald Trump his target. "Each of us knows, deep in our bones, that everything this nation stands for is at stake," Biden said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the results of the Iowa caucus were "too close to call" and instead used much of a speech at her caucus party to criticize President Donald Trump.

She told hundreds who gathered to cheer her on in downtown Des Moines on Monday night:
"We don't know all the results tonight, but tonight has already shown that Americans have a hunger for big structural change."

Her White House bid calls for fundamentally remaking the nation's economic and political system.

Warren said, "A president's values matters and the only thing Donald Trump values is Donald Trump." She said the president believes "government is a tool to enrich himself and his corrupt buddies at everyone else's expense."

She said: "If you can imagine an America where people, not money, come first, then this campaign is for you."

Although the Iowa results aren't yet clear, she added: “Tonight we are one step closer to winning the fight for the America we believe is possible.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., was the first Democratic presidential candidate to address the delayed Iowa caucus results, saying, "We know one thing: we are punching above our weight."

The senator built her campaign around a strong performance in Iowa. While the results are unknown, she says, "We are bringing this ticket to New Hampshire."

Precinct leaders were calling in their results to the Democratic Party headquarters, and "they weren't answering the phones in Des Moines" because, Courtney speculated, they were mobbed with calls.

The apps were barely working, forcing party aides to record results from the precincts via phone and enter them manually into a database, according to a person involved in processing the data who requested anonymity to discuss the party's internal process.

The slowdown came as the party attempted to report more data about the caucus than in years past — promising to release both a headcount of each candidates' supporters and the delegate winners from each site.

"The integrity of the results is paramount," Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said in a statement. "We have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the IDP is reporting out three data sets for the first time. What we know right now is that around 25% of precincts have reported, and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016."

The problems were an embarrassment for a state party that has long sought to protect its prized status as the first contest in the primary race. The delay was certain to become fodder for caucus critics who call the process antiquated and exclusionary.

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, who ran a precinct in the Cedar Rapids suburb of Robins, said some app users may not have gotten the instructions on how to log into the system.

"If people didn't know where to look for the PIN numbers or the precinct numbers, that could slow them down," said Miller, who said he had no problem using the system to report his precinct’s figures and it worked fine.

Helen Grunewald, a precinct caucus chairwoman in Benton County, said she had been on hold with the party trying to report her results for a significant amount of time.

Earlier in the night, however, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said while there were some reports from precinct officials that they could not log into the mobile app, a team of trouble-shooters was working to address any technical issues.

"We've had an app before but we've also had a hotline before, and folks have had the option to do that, and so we expect that we'll be able to report the results in a timely manner this evening," he said.

Just 1.87% of the precincts delivered final alignment vote data, according to AP.

AP Summary Results – Final Alignment

33 of 1765 Precincts Reporting - 1.87% | Updated: 12:23 a.m. ET