Company behind Iowa Democratic caucus app expresses ‘regret’

Shadow, the little-known company behind the app used to tabulate the results of the Iowa presidential caucus, expressed regret on Tuesday over the delayed results from the Democratic nominating contest.

“We sincerely regret the delay in the reporting of the results of last night’s Iowa caucuses and the uncertainty it has caused to the candidates, their campaigns, and Democratic caucus-goers,” the company tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.

We sincerely regret the delay in the reporting of the results of last night’s Iowa caucuses and the uncertainty it has caused to the candidates, their campaigns, and Democratic caucus-goers.

— Shadow, Inc. (@ShadowIncHQ) February 4, 2020 

The company, which is affiliated with the Democratic nonprofit group Acronym, wrote in a series of follow-up tweets that the results of the election were in no way affected or manipulated, citing the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP).

Acronym spokesman Kyle Tharp put out a statement on Tuesday distancing the group from Shadow, saying that Acronym is one of multiple investors in the company. Reports have pointed out that Acronym’s site previously said it “launched Shadow.”

State party officials are set to release at least some results of the caucus at 5 p.m. ET, though it’s unclear exactly how much. The chairman of the IDP told campaigns to expect a “majority” of the caucus results to be released at that time.

IDP chairman Tom Price stressed in a statement Tuesday that “there was not a cyber security intrusion” into the caucus.

“As part of our investigation, we determined with certainty that the underlying data collected via the app was sound,” he continued. “While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system.” 

Shadow has been paid by multiple presidential campaigns and state Democratic parties in the last year, including the the Nevada Democratic Party, which had been planning to use the same app during its upcoming caucuses.

The state party released a statement Tuesday saying they would no longer use the app after the chaos in Iowa.

“NV Dems can confidently say that what happened in the Iowa caucus last night will not happen in Nevada on February 22nd. We will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus,” Nevada State Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy said.

The Texas Democratic Party also paid Shadow $250 for a “texting platform” and “online productivity tools,” according to Federal Election Commission data.

An official for the party told The Hill that the “contract was not for app development or website services.”

The Wisconsin Democratic Party in November paid Shadow $3,750. An official for the state party told The Hill the payment was for a peer-to-peer text messaging service.

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) paid Shadow for text messaging services but was not involved in any apps, a campaign official told The Hill.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign paid Shadow $1,225 in July for “text messaging.” The Hill has reached out to the campaign for further information about the disbursement.

The campaign of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has since suspended her presidential run, made multiple payments to the company for “software.”