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DHS Offered To Test The Iowa Caucus App, But Democrats Declined

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The Department of Homeland Security offered to test the app used in the Iowa Democratic caucuses — which is riddled with bugs and has led to complete election disarray, but that offer was declined.

Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said Tuesday that the department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency offered to vet the app commissioned by the Iowa Democratic Party to tabulate the voting results, but that offer was turned down.

“Our Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency had offered to test that app, from a hacking perspective. They declined and so we are seeing a couple of issues with it,” Wolf said Tuesday morning on “Fox & Friends.”

“I would say right now we don’t see any malicious cyber activity going on,” he said.

The DHS chief also confirmed that no one hacked the app.

“Nobody hacked into it, so this is more of a stress or load issue, as well as a reporting issue we have seen in Iowa. What I would say is, given the amount of scrutiny that we have on election security these days, this is a concerning event and goes to the public confidence of our elections,” Wolf added.

The interview came amid election chaos at the Iowa Democratic caucuses Monday. The state party has reported 0% of election results from precincts in the state as of publication of this article.

The reason: A smartphone application, commissioned by the Iowa Democratic Party to tabulate and record votes, has proven faulty and unreliable. Wolf’s comments indicate that Iowa Democrats did not properly test the app before using it for the first-in-the-nation caucus contest.

Operatives across the state have reported trouble operating the app and submitting voter data. Notably, three alumni of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign run the firm that created the app, Shadow Inc.

As far as election security, Wolf said the country remains more safe than ever before.

“I would say that, today and this year, we are more secure than we’ve ever been. So as we look at 2016 and our preparation for 2018, we are eve more secure than ’16,” the acting DHS chief said.

“So we are continuing to learn and build from the lessons that we’ve done,” he said.

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2 Comments

  1. This report does not give the date (or a timeline) that the offer to test the app. was made, so I cannot be certain that my following comment is possibly true.

    The DNC is opposed generally to the possibility of Sen. Sanders being the Democrat nominee. Sen. Sanders is reportedly leading by a significant amount in Iowa while their purportedly preferred candidate, Joe Biden, is doing poorly.

    If the Iowa and the National Democrat organizations were aware of this at the time the offer to test the app was made, I can understand why they declined…very possibly hoping and depending on the debacle that is currently playing out…hoping that it will interfere with any aid and comfort that Sen. Sanders campaign could harvest.

    I have no proof, but the possibility seems likely. Few things in politics ever are above board.

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