The company that botched the Iowa caucus was formed only months ago

[yortsed snacilbuper]

It’s all fun and games until someone’s app messes up the Democratic Iowa caucus.

Before Monday's debacle, “Shadow” was merely a playful name. A small team of political technologists had given it to their company when it launched early last year, largely as a reference to their primary product: Lightrail, which is supposed to make moving data among different campaign tools easier. Light and Shadow, get it?

That might have been clever in a conference room. But now the name seems sinister. After problems with an app made by Shadow, the Iowa Democratic Party had to postpone announcing the results of Monday's caucus, throwing the presidential race into chaos, enraging Democrats and Republicans alike, and birthing a ton of conspiracy theories about hacking and other malicious interventions.

How could this have happened? At this early juncture, the Shadow situation seems like a testament to the faith that people place in technology and political insiders. Shadow incorporated only in September, meaning that a crucial piece of the Iowa caucus was in the hands of a company that was technically five months old.

Despite serious warnings from experts, Iowa’s Democratic Party handed part of its election infrastructure to a highly networked start-up with a handful of engineers building an entirely untried app. The resulting mess shows the deeply interconnected nature of political operatives and the risks of chasing the newest new thing.

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[kimbutgar]

1. I smell repuke and Russian connections in this epic failure whoever awarded that contract

Needs to be fired and the company investigated by the DNC.

[former9thward]

2. It was a Clinton company

https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-02-04/clinton-campaign-vets-behind-2020-iowa-caucus-app-snafu

[radical noodle]

3. They were folks who worked on Clinton's campaign

It was not a Clinton company.

[former9thward]

5. If it was folks who worked for Trump

would you be so dismissive?

[radical noodle]

7. Trump is a Republican

so yes. I would have a problem with republicans devising anything for the Democratic Party. That's a pretty outrageous comparison, don't you think?

[Quixote1818]

4. Politicians really need to stay away from businesses that can influence election technology

Even if they mean no harm it opens the door for doubt and conspiracy theories.

[radical noodle]

8. The Clintons had nothing to do with it

[CozyMystery]

6. Nope. This debacle was caused by Democrats. nt

[Generic Brad]

9. I smell over confident programmers

Not everything is a conspiracy. Sometimes people just aren’t as smart as they would like to think they are.

[dustyscamp]

10. Yeah I agree

[BlueIdaho]

11. Iowa botched the Iowa Caucus.

Deploying an untested app is political malpractice. The head of the party should offer their resignation and Iowa should be pushed back in the campaign schedule.