Nevada's caucus manual gives detailed instruction for using an iPad. See the slide deck here.

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Nevada's caucus manual gives detailed instruction for using an iPad. See the slide deck here.
nevada caucus early voting begins getty

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Democratic voters wait in line to enter an early voting location the Nevada Caucus for the first day of early voting on February 15.

  • The Iowa caucus results in early February were delayed over "inconsistencies" in voter data reported through a new mobile app.
  • After issues in Iowa, the Nevada Democratic Party scrapped plans to use an app, instead opting for a system involving Google Forms and iPads.
  • In the caucus-training slide deck on the party's website, it provides detailed instructions for every aspect of counting votes, down to how to turn on an iPad.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After the chaos of the Iowa caucus, the Nevada Democratic party appears to be trying to avoid a similar debacle. The Iowa Democratic Party reportedly paid more than $60,000 for a vote-reporting app that was supposed to be used to communicate information from the 1,700 caucus sites to the state party. But on the evening of the caucus, the Iowa Democratic Party made a statement announcing that it found "inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results" and said that it would perform "quality checks" while precincts called the party hotline to report results instead.

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The debacle led Nevada's Democratic Party to change plans.

For the Nevada caucus on February 22, "We are not using an app, we are not using something you can download on your phone," Nevada Democrats executive director Alana Mounce told The New York Times. Caucus organizers will instead input numbers of caucus-goers, and how many supporters each candidate has, into the Caucus Calculator on iPads provided by the party. The numbers will be added to Google Forms and paper worksheets, which caucus organizers will photograph as an added fail-safe.

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The party released a 143-slide training deck online that address each step of the caucuses, including how to use iPads where precincts will report voting data, The New York Times reported.

See some of the slides here.

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On slide 92, the manual has instructions on setting up precincts, including "Open the Caucus Calculator on your iPad."

On slide 92, the manual has instructions on setting up precincts, including "Open the Caucus Calculator on your iPad."

Then comes a brief explanation of setting up the document where each caucus site will keep track of numbers during different rounds of the caucus.

Then comes a brief explanation of setting up the document where each caucus site will keep track of numbers during different rounds of the caucus.
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The party leaves nothing up to chance, with four-part directions for unlocking the iPad.

The party leaves nothing up to chance, with four-part directions for unlocking the iPad.

Even more detailed instructions for opening and logging into the Caucus Calculator follow.

Even more detailed instructions for opening and logging into the Caucus Calculator follow.
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Once the caucus site reaches step three — counting participants — the iPads come into play. The training document has step-by-step instructions for using the calculator to find the right numbers to write in each space on the poster.

Once the caucus site reaches step three — counting participants — the iPads come into play. The training document has step-by-step instructions for using the calculator to find the right numbers to write in each space on the poster.

After the caucus is finished and numbers transferred to reporting sheets, someone at each site should take a photo of the sheet using the iPad, then text the photo to the Nevada Democratic Party.

After the caucus is finished and numbers transferred to reporting sheets, someone at each site should take a photo of the sheet using the iPad, then text the photo to the Nevada Democratic Party.

Precincts will also report results by calling into the hotline. Though the system seems complicated, it remains to be seen whether it will run more smoothly than in Iowa.

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