Internal emails reveal that the Iowa Democratic Party will not correct errors on the official handwritten tally sheet from the state’s precincts, with the party’s lawyer warning that altering the legal record would be a “crime,” The New York Times reported Sunday. The party this weekend desperately re-examined results from 95 precincts to deliver updated results on Monday after last week’s disastrous caucuses. However, “the incorrect math on the Caucus Math Worksheets must not be changed to ensure the integrity of the process,” said the party’s lawyer Shayla McCormally, according to an email sent by chairman of the party Troy Price to its central committee members. McCormally reportedly said correcting the errors would infiltrate “personal opinion” into the official record of results. Delayed results released by the Iowa Democratic Party were full of inconsistencies and flaws, such as errors in adding up votes for candidates or giving the wrong number of delegates to candidates, according to the Times.
“It is the legal voting record of the caucus, like a ballot,” McCormally wrote. “The seriousness of the record is made clear by the language at the bottom stating that any misrepresentation of the information is a crime. Therefore, any changes or tampering with the sheet could result in a claim of election interference or misconduct.” The emails also reveal that the party told campaigns it would only re-examine reported results if the inconsistencies “show a discrepancy between the Caucus Math Worksheet and the publicly reported results.”
Read it at The New York Times
