Feb 12, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Anxieties over Nevada caucuses mount following Iowa chaos

Nevada voters

Nevada voters during the 2018 midterm elections. Photo: Mikayla Whitmore/The Washington Post via Getty Images

There are growing concerns that the Feb. 22 Nevada caucuses could be a repeat of the chaos that hit Iowa's caucus process earlier this month, AP reports.

What's happening: Election volunteers in the state have yet to receive training for the iPads they will use on caucus day — or specific details about what the process' electronic "Caucus Tool" is and how it will ultimately be used.

  • Nevada was going to originally use the same app used in Iowa but has since scrapped those plans. Organizers told the AP that state party officials emphasized that the "Caucus Tool" is not an app, but did not explain how it was different.
  • Compounding matters, Nevada will offer early voting in its multi-stage caucus process — which Iowa didn't attempt.

The big picture, via Axios' Stef Kight: Wyoming is the only other state that will hold a traditional caucus this year — on April 4.

The bottom line: Concerns over election security and confidence in electoral results have only grown since Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, as the AP writes, "Iowa’s problems demonstrated that it doesn’t take a foreign government to cause chaos."

Go deeper: States trying to avoid repeating Iowa's caucus nightmare

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