Des Moines Register Editorial: Democrat Caucuses a 'Debacle'

It's time for change, editorial insists
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 4, 2016 12:23 PM CST
Des Moines Register Editorial: Democrat Caucuses a 'Debacle'
Voters listen to instructions during a Democratic party caucus in Nevada, Iowa, Monday, Feb. 1, 2016.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Questions are still flying about the Iowa Democratic caucuses, in which Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were separated by just two-tenths of 1%. Stories are going around of inconsistent counts, a lack of voter registration forms, and crowded rooms full of confused voters and untrained volunteers, write the editors of the Des Moines Register in an editorial. "What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period," they write, and the state's Democratic Party must submit to an audit to "assure the accuracy of the caucus results, beyond a shadow of a doubt."

The party has so far "dug in [its] heels" and "refus[ed] to undergo scrutiny," but the truth is, the results were simply too close and too many doubts have been raised about other aspects of the caucuses. To refuse to consider those doubts just makes the doubters—in this case, Sanders supporters—even more sure of their suspicions. It's time for an audit and the release of the raw vote totals, all coin flips, and other information. "And then call for a blue ribbon commission to study how to improve the caucuses, as the Republican Party of Iowa did after its own fiasco in 2012. Monday’s mess showed that it’s time for the Democrats to change, too." Click for the full editorial. (More Iowa stories.)

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