The 2020 Iowa caucuses

Here are where the top five candidates stand:

The Democratic National Committee is taking an increasingly active role in the process of tracking down the data from the nearly 1,700 caucus sites across Iowa, including checking data sent to the Iowa Democratic Party via their failed app, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

A team of roughly a dozen party officials are currently in Iowa working with the state party to report out the results of last night’s caucuses, which were delayed due to widespread reporting issues between the Iowa precincts and the Iowa Democratic Party.

The team from the DNC includes staffers tracking online disinformation, we well as data and communications staff, one source said. DNC Chair Tom Perez is not in Iowa, according to a DNC aide, but has been getting updates from the team of the ground.

The DNC officials are also chasing down data from individual caucus chairs from precincts across the state, hoping to track down precincts that had not reported their results.

A spokeswoman for the Iowa Democratic Party said that the DNC was “chasing precinct results,” something that they described as “something that happens after every caucus.”

This caucus was unlike any other, though, and there are likely more precincts to chase down this cycle because both the app failed and the phone line that that was supposed to allow caucus chairs to report data was overrun.

Bill Schoenenberger, the caucus chair of a precinct in Des Moines, told CNN that he got a call on Tuesday morning from someone who identified themselves as a Democratic National Committee official. Schoenenberger, instead of using the app or hotline on Monday night, said he scanned his final caucus tally and emailed it to the Polk County Democrats.

“They said they were assisting the Iowa Democratic Party to collect the data and verify it,” Schoenenberger said. “They were asking, not just me, but others… to get a copy or a picture of the information sheets.”

Schoenenberger said he notified Price and the chair Polk County Democrats that this request came in and that he knows of two or three other caucus chairs that have been called by the DNC.

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez said the situation in Iowa “should never happen again.”

“Our immediate goal is to ensure that every vote is counted as quickly as possible. Accuracy is our guidepost,” he said in a statement.

Here’s the full statement: 

The Iowa caucuses started at 8 p.m. ET yesterday, when caucus sites officially closed their doors to start voting.

The first results didn’t come in until today, around 5 p.m. ET, after jammed phone lines and a failing app created chaos in reporting the numbers. At that time, Democratic officials said 62% of precincts were in.

We haven’t gotten any more results since then. It’s not clear when 100% of precincts could report.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is currently in second place in Iowa with 62% of precincts reporting — is speaking in New Hampshire, which has its primary next week.

While Sanders is behind Pete Buttigieg in Iowa when it comes to state delegates, he’s leading the popular vote.

Hear more from Sanders:

Bernie Sanders is neck-and-neck with Pete Buttigieg in Iowa with a little more than 60% of the Iowa vote (finally) in.

Buttigieg leads, at this point, in the critical state delegate equivalents count, with 26.9% to Sanders’ 25.1%.

Those numbers could well change, especially with parts of the state – like in Black Hawk County – where Sanders was banking on a strong showing not yet reporting their totals.

For now, though, the Sanders campaign is publicly focusing on a different count, where he has the lead: the raw vote totals.

In a statement, Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver highlighted those figures.

In the initial count, Sanders has 27,088 to Buttigieg’s 23,666.

After caucus-goers whose candidates didn’t reach the 15% viability threshold were asked to go to their second choice – or leave or tally themselves as uncommitted – Sanders remains in front, with a higher total but smaller lead (28,220 to 27,030).

A longtime Democratic fundraiser who supports Vice President Joe Biden called the partial, delayed Iowa results “disappointing.”

The results — currently with just 62% of precincts reporting — showed Biden in fourth place

The donor said recent fundraising up through Tuesday morning had been strong. “The question is what will these numbers mean” for donors, the source added. “Will they panic?”

The donor said Biden’s supporters still hope that South Carolina — where African Americans represent about 60% of the Democratic primary electorate – will serve as a firewall for Biden.

“The storyline hasn’t changed. Iowa is Iowa. South Carolina embodies Biden’s supporters.”

Campaign finance reports released last Friday showed Biden started the year with slightly less than $9 million in cash reserves, a weaker cash position than his leading rivals. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had more than twice that amount remaining in his campaign war chest.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price exits the stage after speaking Tuesday about the technical issues that delayed the caucus results.

The Iowa caucuses shut their doors to begin voting at 8 p.m. ET last night. After a long delay, Iowa Democrats released some results at 5 p.m. ET today.

But those first results were for just 62% of the precincts. In the hour and a half since those numbers were released, no new results have come out. So we’re still at just 62% reporting.

It’s not clear when we could get 100% reporting.

Pete Buttigieg, who currently has a narrow lead in Iowa with 62% of precincts reporting, said he hopes his initial numbers mean something to “people who are different” and “people who don’t know if they belong.”

If elected, Buttigieg would be the nation’s first gay president.

“It’s extraordinary,” he told CNN when asked about what this moment means.

“It also, I hope, means something to a lot of people wondering if they fit in, people who are different, people who don’t know if they belong in their community or in their family. This is a proof that you can believe in yourself and in your country.” 

Hear more from Buttigieg:

As the first portion of results from the Iowa caucuses are coming in, Joe Biden sent a fundraising email this evening, saying, “Iowa was just the start. Now help me win the rest of the Democratic primary.”

With 62% of precincts reporting, Biden is in fourth place with 15.6% of the vote. His campaign has been more focused on states like South Carolina.

A senior adviser for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign said the team is “gratified” by the results so far, which show Sanders leading the popular vote.

Senior adviser Jeff Weaver issued the following statement after the Iowa Democratic Party released partial results from the Iowa caucus:

Remember: While Sanders is initially leading in the popular votes — the number of people who picked Sanders during the first round of caucus and the second round — it doesn’t mean he’ll win the state.

So far, Pete Buttigieg is leading the state delegate vote. That’s the number that will determine who officially wins the caucuses.

Pete Buttigieg’s campaign’s burn rate was 135% in the fourth quarter, with the campaign spending $34 million on primarily their organization in the first four states. 

Buttigieg told CNN on Monday that they are making a bet that their performance in these first four states — especially Iowa — would be do or die for his campaign.  

The campaign is keenly aware that they need to quiet concerns about electability by finishing strong in Iowa. According to conversations with multiple aides, the objective was not necessarily to finish in first place, but rather to show that they are a viable alternative to both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. With the results coming in a day after the caucuses, his aides feel confident that they beat their own expectations.

But even while campaigning in Iowa, Buttigieg began pivoting to answer the other lingering question: his lack of support among black voters. 

At his final rally of the Iowa campaign, he was joined on stage by a number of black surrogates, including Rep. Anthony Brown, Miss Black America Ryann Richardson, and the only two black mayors of Iowa cities. 

At his election night speech, Buttigieg was introduced by Brown and the head of South Bend’s Democratic Party Gladys Muhammed.

“The national media says blacks in South Bend don’t support Pete Buttigieg,” she said. “Here I am. Black and I’m proud!”

Watch Buttigieg address supporters:

While Pete Buttigieg is the initial leader in Iowa when it comes to state delegates, Bernie Sanders is leading in the popular vote.

This is the first year Iowa Democrats have released the popular vote for both the first and second rounds of the caucuses.

The first round – or the first alignment — is the number of people who first supported a candidate at the start of the caucuses last night. After that first round, viability was determined (typically, a candidates needs 15% of voters to be viable).

During the realignment — or the final round — voters of nonviable candidates could move to vote for viable candidates.

But remember: While the popular vote is interesting, it does not determine who wins Iowa, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer explained.

“It is the state delegates who will determine the winner of the Iowa caucuses,” he noted.

Here’s a look at the popular vote for the first and final rounds with 62% of precincts reporting:

This year, the Iowa Democratic Party is releasing three numbers: first preference, final preference and state delegate equivalent results.

The key number is the state delegate equivalents. Whoever gets the most state delegate equivalents wins the Iowa caucuses. This number is calculated based on the final preference totals. It’s the number of state convention delegates that a candidate would eventually win, based on the local results from precinct caucuses. 

The other two numbers reflect the raw vote totals:

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, speaking to supporters today in New Hampshire, addressed the partial results of last night’s Iowa caucuses.

“Official verified caucus results are coming in from the state of Iowa. They’re not complete, but results are in from a majority of precincts, and they show our campaign in first place,” he told supporters.

Buttigieg, who got emotional at one point, went on to say:

He continued: “This is what we have been working, more than a year to convince our fellow Americans that a new and better vision can bring about a new and better day.”

Watch Buttigieg address supporters:

Pete Buttigieg’s campaign is cautiously optimistic after the first tranche of results find the former South Bend Mayor with a narrow lead with 62% of results in.

Buttigieg aides in Iowa spent the night crunching internal data they received from their precinct captains across Iowa. It is that data that motivated them to claim victory before any results were in.

With 62% of precincts reporting, former Vice President Joe Biden is in fourth place, with just 15.6% of the vote. He’s leading in only six counties.

CNN’s John King noted that Iowa “was never Joe Biden country,” and the former vice president has been anticipating doing better in states like South Carolina.

Still, it’s notable that Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is initially leading in Iowa.

Here’s how King explained it:

Watch John King’s analysis on Biden:

With 62% of Iowa precincts reporting, Pete Buttigieg is leading with 26.9%. Bernie Sanders is in second with 25.1%.

Here are the top four candidates:

Watch Wolf Blitzer’s latest update:

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price blamed the issue on a “coding error” with the app they planned to use to report the numbers.

Price took a handful of questions during the media availability, which happened minutes before the first batch of results was released. Mandy McClure, spokeswoman for the communications director, wanted Price off the stage quickly, trying to cut him off after two or three questions.

Price declined to engage in whether the chaos around the caucus would lead to Iowa losing its first status.

“The fact is that this is a conversation that happen every four years,” Price said.

Price also said that he had “no knowledge” of the Department of Homeland Security offering to review the app the party planned to use.

An aide to Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden sent three emails to the Democratic National Committee’s head of cybersecurity last month raising concerns about the app that was used in Iowa. The emails, which were obtained by CNN, went unanswered.

On Jan. 14, the aide linked to a news story about the app and asked the DNC Chief Security Officer Bob Lord, “Bob, Where can we find out more information about this app that they’re going to use for the Iowa caucuses?” 

“In particular, we’d like to find out if anyone has audited it,” the aide wrote. 

On Jan. 17, the aide followed-up and said “Checking again.”

The final email was sent on Jan. 21: “Bob, If there is someone else I should be reaching out to, please let me know.”

Wyden’s office did not ask the Iowa Democratic Party directly about the app.

In a statement, Wyden today:

CNN has reached out to the DNC for comment.