‘Something stinks in the Democratic Party’

The Des Moines Register, Iowa’s largest and most respected newspaper, has raised doubts about Hillary Clinton’s razor-thin margin of victory in Monday’s Democratic caucuses and the editorial board is calling for an audit of all ballots cast.

In an editorial carrying the headline, “Something stinks in the Democratic Party,” the Register declares the caucus-style election a laughable “debacle” that cannot stand unchallenged. 

As I mentioned on this blog a few days ago, the 2012 Iowa caucuses on the Republican side were fraught with a host of embarrassing gaffes and outright incompetence. Beyond Rick Santorum being declared the winner – not Mitt Romney, as originally announced – many days later, vote-counting errors and entire vote totals missing from some precincts were later revealed.

The Register, to its great credit, dug up all these anomalies. But it appears that Iowa party officials learned nothing from the disturbing outcome of four years ago.

“What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period. Democracy, particularly at the local party level, can be slow, messy and obscure. But the refusal to undergo scrutiny or allow for an appeal reeks of autocracy,” the Register’s editorial team wrote. “The Iowa Democratic Party must act quickly to assure the accuracy of the caucus results, beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

The newspaper warned that too many opportunities for error were evident in the flawed process.

“Too many accounts have arisen of inconsistent counts, untrained and overwhelmed volunteers, confused voters, cramped precinct locations, a lack of voter registration forms and other problems. Too many of us, including members of the Register editorial board who were observing caucuses, saw opportunities for error amid Monday night’s chaos.”

The editorial ended by calling on the state's Democratic Party to “work with all the campaigns to audit results. Break silly party tradition and release the raw vote totals. Provide a list of each precinct coin flip and its outcome, as well as other information sought by the Register. Be transparent.”