Here’s What We Know About the Political Tech Company Behind the Iowa Caucus Snafu

The ominously named Shadow Inc. is responsible for the app that’s delayed Iowa’s first-in-the-nation contest

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Iowa’s caucus system is typically confusing but a new mobile app has made things significantly more complicated—so much so that Iowa’s first-in-the-nation results won’t be released until officials manually check all of the results.

Last night, officials with the Iowa Democratic Party found reporting inconsistencies with the app which caucus officials were supposed to use to calculate and report results from their respective precincts. Users reportedly had trouble logging in and using the app, as well as trouble with cell phone service in certain parts of the state.

Mandy McClure, a spokesperson for the Iowa Democratic Party said this was “simply a reporting issue; the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion.”

Behind the troubled app, which is also set to be used in the Nevada caucuses later this month, is the ominously named Shadow Inc., a Denver-based for-profit company affiliated with the Democratic nonprofit ACRONYM.

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