Iowa’s Voting App Meltdown Shows That Tech Won’t Save Democracy
Voting apps have the power to change the process — in more ways than one
This week, an app designed to gather and report caucus results in Iowa for the Democratic Party did more than just fail — it exposed an inability to understand what technology means to democracy.
Theoretically, the plan was straightforward. Once caucus chairs had filled out a worksheet tabulating support for candidates, they had two options: Either call in the results using a dedicated telephone hotline or log them in a new mobile app called IowaReporterApp. But the app didn’t really work as planned, and some chairs weren’t even able to download it in the first place. Forced to call in their results over the phone, the chairs quickly jammed the hotline. Chaos ensued.
We now know the culprit wasn’t hackers or malware, but poor design. The Iowa Democratic Party had enlisted a company called Shadow Inc. and rushed development in only two months, using an inexperienced coding team. The app ultimately failed thanks to an overly complicated user experience.
Intuitively, the effort to shift democracy online feels logical. When Utah County allowed a handful of voters living overseas to vote in a local municipal primary by using their mobile phone and…
