Nevada reportedly plans to use the same app in its Democratic caucus that caused problems in Iowa

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Nevada reportedly plans to use the same app in its Democratic caucus that caused problems in Iowa
Iowa caucus

Brian Snyder/REUTERS

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Supporters of Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Sanders wait at their caucus site in Des Moines

  • The same app that is at the center of Iowa's messy Monday night caucus is slated to be used in the Nevada caucus, CNN reported.
  • The software, reportedly developed by a relatively unknown company called "Shadow," was supposed to make the caucus easier, though it caused headaches among those who used it.
  • Nevada's caucus is scheduled to take place on February 22.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The same app that caused some of the problems during Monday night's Iowa caucus is slated to be used in the February 22 Democratic Party Caucus in Nevada, according to CNN.

Sources familiar with the app, created by a relatively unknown company called "Shadow," told CNN that the Nevada Democratic Party had plans to use the app in its caucus, which scheduled to take place in just over two weeks. It's unclear if the app will still be used following the reported issues.

According to a HuffPost report, records revealed that the Iowa Democratic Party paid over $60,000 to "Shadow" a tech company owned by a digital non-profit called Acronym. As Business Insider's Aaron Holmes noted, an archived version of Acronym's website from July 2019 states it "launched" Shadow in 2019, though the current version of the page now says Acronym "invested" in the company.

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NBC News found that the app was recording data correctly but only sending out partial data, a problem deemed a "coding error" by the Iowa Democratic Party.

"We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The application's reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately," the IDP said on Tuesday.

The IDP also said the issue with the results was simply a "reporting" issue, adding that software had not been hacked.

Acronym has attempted to distance itself from Shadow amid Monday night's messy first event of the 2020 election, according to CNN. The Texas Democratic Party also told CNN it had a relationship with Shadow, but used the company only for its service to reach voters via text message.

Multiple precincts in the state said they had issues using the app to report results. Polk County Democratic Chairman Sean Bagniewski told CNN tests of the app last week had not gone smoothly, so the IDP had advised any precincts with issues using the app Monday to call in the results.

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The app was supposed to help streamline the process by reducing the number of phone calls to report caucus results from the state's more than 1,700 precincts.

The Nevada Democratic Party did not return a request from Insider for comment.

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