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Election app snafu was avoidable

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By Pam Reinig
Register Editor

Ten minutes into the February 3 caucus, Brian Bruening got the first inkling that he was in for a long night. Bruening, who is a precinct chair and also chair of the Clayton County Democrats, opened a newly created election app on his smartphone to enter the number of participants who turned out at his precinct.

He was kicked out of the app seconds after logging in.

“I got a ‘restart app’ message but when I tried to do that, nothing happened,” Bruening said.

Bruening’s experience played out across most of Iowa’s 1,700 precincts. It seems nobody was able to get the app to work. In the days leading up to the caucus, instantaneous results were promised but in the end, results trickled in. Nearly four days would pass before an official tally was announced.

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