'Great Chaos' US Democrats' Presidential Race Gets Off to a Rocky Start

Uncertainty Remains a Day After Iowa Caucus Results Announcement
Criticism Joined by Both Republicans and Media
Efforts to Emphasize Transparency Backfire, Worsening Situation
Predicted Disaster Also Pointed Out

Census workers are checking the results of the Iowa caucuses held by the US Democratic Party on the 3rd. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The Iowa Caucus of the U.S. Democratic Party, the first starting point of the U.S. presidential race, was recorded as the worst disaster for failing to deliver results even the day after its conclusion. Criticism from both the Republican Party and the media continued, plunging the Democrats into great chaos by raising doubts about their governing ability right from the starting point of the presidential race.

The results of the Democratic Iowa Caucus, which began at 7 p.m. on the 3rd (local time, 10 a.m. Korean time), have not been released even by 10 a.m. on the 4th, a full day later. According to U.S. media, the caucus results are expected to be announced that evening, but even this is uncertain. The Iowa Democratic Party stated in a press release on the morning of the 4th that they intend to release the results as soon as possible, but the situation remains chaotic.

For the Democrats, who ruined the first starting point signaling the beginning of the U.S. presidential race, evaluations are emerging that they lost the early momentum to the Republican Party and President Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential race.

This delayed announcement incident is interpreted as being due to changes in the result announcement and counting methods. The Democrats decided to announce the caucus results in three categories: ▲ first-round vote results ▲ combined results of first and second rounds ▲ delegate allocation per candidate, but it was explained that the figures in these three categories do not match.

The Democrats issued a statement around 11:30 p.m., saying, "We found that the three types of results did not match," explaining that the announcement was delayed because the numbers between the items to be announced did not align during the counting process. They also clarified that the app used for counting was not hacked.

This vote-counting disaster is also evaluated as a case where expanding the scope of public disclosure under the name of enhancing transparency ultimately backfired. In the past, the Democrats only disclosed the delegate allocation per candidate, but this time they included the first and second-round vote results in the disclosure, which ultimately caused discrepancies among these items.

The Democrats introduced this change after the 2016 Iowa Caucus contest between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders was nearly tied but concluded with Clinton's victory, pledging to enhance transparency.

Some have claimed that this incident was predictable. Some caucus workers testified that the smartphone application used for counting the caucus results caused problems last week as well.

Although a close contest was expected between Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, in an unpredictable situation, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg claimed victory. Senator Elizabeth Warren described the situation as a fierce close race.

The camp of former Vice President Joe Biden expressed concern, saying, "This incident raises questions about the authenticity of the vote count," and requested detailed information from the Iowa Democratic Party about what the problem was.

Ultimately, none of the Democratic primary candidates declared victory and moved on to the next primary state, New Hampshire.

The Democrats' confusion became fodder for the Republicans. President Donald Trump, who secured victory with a 97% vote rate just 25 minutes after the caucus started, posted a mocking tweet saying, "The Democratic caucus is a complete disaster." On the 4th, Trump also said, "This is not Iowa's fault. It's the fault of the Democrats who can't do anything right."

Brad Parscale, head of Trump’s reelection campaign headquarters, mocked the Democrats’ delayed vote announcement as "the clumsiest train wreck in history," saying, "It is natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process."

U.S. media also focused on criticizing the Democrats’ situation. The New York Times reported, "The delay in announcing the Democratic Iowa Caucus results has caused confusion and anger," and The Washington Post pointed out, "The Iowa Caucus has fallen into chaos amid uncertainty over the delayed result announcement."

CNN criticized, "The Democrats’ mission to oust President Donald Trump has had a miserable and embarrassing start."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.