Sanders on the caucuses: It’s not a good night for democracy

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed the process surrounding the Iowa caucuses while releasing his campaign’s own internal data Tuesday amid growing anger and frustration over the delay of Monday night’s results. 

“This was not a good night for democracy,” Sanders told reporters on a plane to New Hampshire. 

Campaigns, volunteers and voters have grown furious at the delay in the results, which the Iowa Democratic Party has blamed on reporting issues and an issue with the phone app that was meant to transmit the final tallies.

Sanders campaign senior adviser Jeff Weaver said on MSNBC Tuesday that the campaign’s internal tallies show Sanders leading in the final count with 29.66 percent of the state’s delegates. The data was based on 60 percent of the precincts reporting, he said. The campaign had released similar data based on 40 percent of precincts several hours earlier. 

A number of other campaigns have also released their internal data from the caucuses, but the official results from the Iowa Democratic Party will not be available until 4 p.m. CT, according to the party’s chairman. 

The Sanders campaign’s data showed former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) in second place at 24.87 percent, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at 20.65 percent. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden placed fourth at 12.92 percent, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) rounded out the top six at 11.18 percent, according to the campaign’s data. 

The fallout over the delay in results in Iowa has raised questions over the legitimacy and viability of the caucuses.