Axne points to volunteers, not party officials, as Caucus drama continues

WASHINGTON — Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne says she’s grateful to the volunteers who’ve stepped up to help “triple-check” the Iowa Caucus results.

“Folks come to the Democratic headquarters and overnight worked diligently to make sure that the results that will be released are factual and don’t leave any room for error,” Axne said of the Caucus chaos during a brief conference call with Iowa reporters on another subject.

Axne and the two other Democrats from Iowa who serve in the U.S. House released a written statement late yesterday afternoon. They said the Iowa Caucuses are the foundation of how both political parties and the nation select presidents and generations of Iowa voters have taken that responsibility seriously. Axne, along with Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer of Dubuque and Congressman Dave Loebsack of Iowa City, called for transparency and accountability moving forward.

“We want to make sure we’re doing the job that we were asked to do,” Axne said late yesterday from Washington, right before Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price addressed reporters in Des Moines.

By mid-morning today, 71 percent of Caucus-night results had been posted on the Iowa Democratic Party’s website.

Read the statement from Axne, Loebsack and Finkenauer below.

“The Iowa Caucuses are the foundation of how our parties and our nation select their next President, and generations of Iowa voters know how seriously we all take that responsibility. This situation is disappointing, and requires accountability and transparency moving forward.

We must ensure complete accuracy so that every Iowan’s voice is heard and counted, and we thank the many volunteers that have now worked night and day to finalize a result that the nation and the whole world can know is fair.

For almost a half century, candidates for the highest office in the land have come to Iowa to present their visions for America to Independents, Republicans, and Democrats alike. As Iowan’s voices in the U.S. House of Representatives, we know how important it is that our constituents came together last night to participate in what should be a trustworthy and efficient process, and this deserves to be done right.”