Pete Buttigieg, the former Indiana mayor, and Democratic hopeful, declared himself winner of the very important Iowa caucus which most times determines the Party flag bearer for the presidential elections.
Buttigieg who is competing for the Democratic slot with Joe Biden, Amy Kloubacher, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, announced his ‘victory’ just after 11pm Central American time on Monday even though there are no official results yet.
Pete Buttigieg, a former Naval officer that served in Afghanistan is married to a man, and after giving his speech, embraced his husband Chasten and called him the future first gentleman.
Other presidential hopefuls did not announce a victory as the entire Democratic field have no idea of official results after the Iowa Democratic Party’s reporting app crashed and its backup phone system did too.
Bernie Sanders, after hearing of Buttigieg’s announcement, released his own version of results, saying internal results from 40 per cent of precincts showed him in first place and Buttigieg in second.
Even though the Democratic party has denied being hacked, the ensuing fiasco is sure going to have reverberating effects on the democratic primaries just few months away.
Because of the complicated voting system it is possible for the person with the most delegates to not have the largest share of vote – so more than one campaign could declare itself winner .
Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure reacting to a reported hack which caused the delay in results said: ‘We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results.
‘ In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report.
‘This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion.’
Buttigieg, who was hoping to get a boost out of the nation’s first caucus state told his supporters;
‘We don’t know all of the results. But we do know that by the time it’s all said and done, Iowa: you have shocked the nation. Because by all indications we are going on to New Hampshire victorious,’
“You joined your names to say that the time has come to turn the page and join a new chapter in America,’ he told them.”
‘With hope in our heart and fire in our bellies we are going on to New Hampshire, on to the nomination and on to chart a new course for this nation we love!’ he said.
Meanwhile Bernie Sanders’ campaign adviser put out a statement saying ;
‘We recognize that this does not replace the full data from the Iowa Democratic Party, but we believe firmly that our supporters worked too hard for too long to have the results of that work delayed,’ said Jeff Weaver, the Sanders 2020 campaign adviser.
