Democrats worry Nevada caucuses could be just as disastrous as Iowa — or even worse

Democrats in Nevada worry that their caucuses could mirror the disastrous and embarrassing debacle in Iowa, and one indicator points to even greater complications.

An Associated Press report documents concerns from some Democratic party members and volunteers citing similar organizational and technical obstacles.

Among the biggest challenges in Iowa was a failing smartphone application that had not been sufficiently tested before it broke down on the pivotal night when all eyes were on the Hawkeye state.

While the Nevada Democratic Party quickly dropped its plans to use the same application for caucus reporting, the replacement isn't doing much better.

Officials said they would be using a "Caucus Tool" to report results and that they would be shipping iPads for the tool on the day of the election.

Volunteers said they have not received any training on how to use the "tool," and officials could not explain to the Associated Press why it is different from the failed application in Iowa.

The report quoted University of Iowa computer scientist Doug Jones, an expert on voting technology, on his concerns about their use of the iPad application.

"This sounds just dangerous, like people are still improvising and making up the rules as they go," said Jones. "How do they expect to get training done for all the people doing these caucuses?"

The Nevada caucuses also have one complicating factor that could make them worse than Iowa: Voters will be allowed to vote early, and it is unclear how these votes will be tabulated in the complicated counting process.

"They've been saying basically, 'Don't worry. Trust us,'" said Seth Morrison, a caucus site leader in Las Vegas. "I've been hyperventilating for the last five days."

Here's more about the Nevada caucus:

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