Newly Released Documents Detail DNC’s Involvement With Botched Iowa Caucus App

Precinct Chair Carl Voss shows the phone app he used for the Iowa Caucus to news media at the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters on February 4, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
Precinct Chair Carl Voss shows the phone app he used for the Iowa Caucus to news media at the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters on February 4, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Ser... Precinct Chair Carl Voss shows the phone app he used for the Iowa Caucus to news media at the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters on February 4, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Documents exchanged between the Democratic National Committee and the developer of the app that caused disarray during the Iowa caucuses last week details the involvement that national party officials had over the app’s development.

The results of the Iowa caucuses have yet to be made official more than a week later after a slew of issues related to the app. In the days following the Iowa caucus, DNC chair Tom Perez has blamed the Iowa Democratic Party and the app developer, Shadow Inc., for the snafu.

According to a Yahoo News report Thursday, a copy of the contract between Shadow and the Iowa Democratic Party — obtained by an unaffiliated Democratic operative in Iowa — signed Oct. 14 shows that the company agreed to work with the DNC.

“Consultant agrees to work with the DNC Services Corporation / Democratic National Committee (‘DNC’) on an on-going basis as Consultant develops the software,” the contract reads, according to Yahoo News.

The contract also details Shadow Inc.’s agreement to grant the DNC access to its software for testing purposes, saying that the app developer will “provide DNC continual access to review the Consultant’s system configurations, security and  system logs, system designs, data flow designs, security controls (preventative and detective), and operational plans for how the Consultant will use and run the Software for informational dissemination, pre-registration, tabulation, and reporting throughout the caucus process.”

Read Yahoo News’ report here.

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