The reporting apps are to be used in every precinct in Iowa, and results will be stored and managed in Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform. The Microsoft app allows people entering results to double check and correct their entries – something the phone system didn’t do – and has a means to flag anomalies.
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Both the Republican and Democratic parties in Iowa have expressed strong confidence in Microsoft, dismissing late suspicion of corporate influence from the campaign of Sen.
Columnist Matt Drudge tweeted, “Watching the Iowa folks put their votes into Microsoft app is terrifying…”
The tech giant has generously volunteered to proved (at no cost) a new app to both major parties which will be used to tally the votes from the more than 1,600 caucus sites across the state.
The Microsoft apps will be replacing a phone reporting system used in 2008 and 2012 that required precincts to report their results through a touchtone keypad – increasing the potential for human error.
“This will be the first time in Iowa Caucuses history that reporting will be done accurately and efficiently in real time”, Huckaby told CRN. Over the weekend, members of the media from all over the country and the world converged on the small town of Des Moines, and majority will be working from a high-tech broadcast center, where the caucus results will come in throughout the night.
InterKnowlogy’s apps run on iOS, Android and Windows smartphones and tablets and store and process the data they collect in the Microsoft Azure cloud. Undecided voters are up for grabs, as campaigns then debate and try to convince those caucus-goers to join their candidate.
The 2016 Presidential campaign will see its very first results tonight with Iowa caucus voting for Republican and Democratic candidates today.
“For more than a year the Iowa GOP has been preparing for the evening of February 1, strengthening our relationships with county parties, opening new offices, hiring staff, and developing a new reporting system with our partner Microsoft”, Executive Director Chad Olsen said in a statement. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) early last week.
To counter any issues, according to the report, Clinton and Sanders’ headquarters have both also prepared backup reporting systems to check against Microsoft’s systems.
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“You’d have to ask yourself why they’d want to give something like that away for free”, D’Alessandro said. “Microsoft is providing technology and services exclusively to administer and facilitate a neutral, accurate, efficient reporting system for the caucuses”, it said.
