Results from Iowa Democrat caucus are expected ‘sometime’ on Tuesday

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Frustrations mounted late Monday night after the Iowa Democratic Party said it found “inconsistencies” in the reporting of the caucus results and delayed releasing any precinct vote tallies to ensure the integrity of the election.

The unusually long wait for the delegate totals to be released left the political world on pins and needles as it awaited the highly anticipated results from the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Conspiracy theories flew across the internet and cable news outlets, which had been broadcasting live on the air for hours without any data to report.

Around 2 a.m. Tuesday the Iowa Democratic Party held a short press call to say results would be released later in the day and the delay was the result of reporting problems, not a hack.

Troy Price, the chairman of the state Democratic Party, said on a brief call with reporters that the errors that led to the long delay were a result of reporting problems, as precinct chairmen around the state said they had waited on hold for hours to get through to a hotline that was supposed to be in place as an emergency backup.

“The integrity of our process and the results have and always be our top priority. At this point, the [Iowa Democratic Party] is manually verifying all precinct results. We expect to have numbers to report later today. We want to emphasize this is a reporting issue, not a hack or an intrusion, and it’s exactly why we have a paper trail and systems in place to uphold the integrity of our process,” Price said.

“They’re validating every piece of data we have against our paper trail. The system is taking longer than expected, but it’s in place to ensure we are eventually able to report results with full confidence. We have said all along we have the backups in place for exactly this reason. We are updating campaigns and we will continue to provide updates as they are available,” he said.

The delay in results have not only left candidates and their campaign staff fuming but has given rise to some making unsubstantiated claims that they are in the lead.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said in a speech, “So we don’t know all the results, but we know 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.”

Bernie Sanders wasn’t so bold as to claim victory like Buttigieg, but he did tell his supporters that he believes that the record will show that he did “very, very well” when the results of the Iowa caucuses finally come in — whenever that may be.