The Political Scene | The New Yorker

Episode: Disasters at America’s Polling Places
Date: February 6, 2020
Host: Dorothy Wickenden (Executive Editor, The New Yorker)
Guest: Sue Halpern (Contributing Writer, The New Yorker)

Overview

This episode delves into the recurring failures and vulnerabilities in the American electoral system, spotlighting the recent chaos of the 2020 Iowa caucuses. Host Dorothy Wickenden and guest Sue Halpern explore the roots of technological malfunction, systemic voter suppression, election security, and whether there’s any hope for restoring faith in the process.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The 2020 Iowa Caucuses and Shadow App Debacle

• Technical Failures:
  • A new vote-reporting app, developed by Shadow, catastrophically failed.
  • The breakdown delayed the final count for days and generated suspicion and confusion among voters, officials, and candidates.
  • Backup phone systems also faltered.
  • Notably, Pete Buttigieg declared himself victorious before results were in.
    • Quote: “We don't know all the results, but we know by the time it's all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation. Because, by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.” — Pete Buttigieg (02:02, as referenced by Sue Halpern)
• Conflicts of Interest and Appearance of Impropriety:
  • Buttigieg’s campaign had financial and personal connections to groups behind the app, causing further suspicion.
  • Quote: “There's no evidence that the vote tally was compromised… But it sure doesn't look good. And we're in a position now where it's really important to have everything be above board.” — Sue Halpern (03:10)

2. Conspiracy Theories and Political Fallout

• The technical collapse fueled conspiracy theories, especially from the right, suggesting rigging or intentional chaos.
  • Quote: “Conspiracy theorists on the right are calling the results rigged…” — Dorothy Wickenden (04:22)
• Halpern highlighted that the tight-knit nature of political tech makes such apparent conflicts almost inevitable, though not necessarily nefarious.
  • Quote: “…it's a very, very small world. So on some level, it's not unusual that, you know, you would have this apparent conflict of interest.” — Sue Halpern (04:37)

3. Why Did the Shadow App Fail?

• Built too quickly, poorly vetted, unintuitive for users, and contained serious security flaws.
  • Tech-savvy individuals struggled to log in; security researchers later found vulnerabilities that could have allowed for hacking.
  • Quote: “It was built very quickly… the user interface was basically impossible for people to use… some pretty serious security flaws that could have led to hacking.” — Sue Halpern (05:33)

4. Historical Context: 2000 Election and Aftermath

• The infamous Florida “hanging chads” led to the Supreme Court’s Bush v. Gore decision, leaving many Democrats believing the election was stolen.
  • Quote: “A lot of ballots weren't counted. Something like 2 million ballots were disqualified in that election... At that point, people were like, okay, look, the voting infrastructure that we have is old. We need to replace it.” — Sue Halpern (06:58)
• The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) allocated billions for new machines and created the Election Assistance Commission, meant to be bipartisan but quickly politicized.
• Introduction of poorly auditable electronic voting machines, often lacking paper trails and linked to partisan interests.
  • Quote: “Those machines couldn't be audited. They had black box algorithms... people saying, wait, A minute. This is not kosher.” — Sue Halpern (07:40)
• Computer scientists like David Dill spearheaded early opposition, demanding paper trails.

5. Persistent Voter Suppression

• For decades, especially since the 1980s, Republicans have systematically worked to shrink the electorate using:
  • Restrictive voter ID laws,
  • Polling place closures,
  • Purging voting rolls,
  • Aggressive redistricting.
• The 2013 Supreme Court rollback of the Voting Rights Act’s Section 5 enabled rapid expansion of suppressive laws—in particular, harming poor people, people of color, and students.
  • Quote: “Our leverage... goes up when the voting populace goes down. So the Republicans took this to heart...” — Sue Halpern (10:57, recounting Paul Weyrich)
  • Quote: “They are primarily targeting poor people and people of color, people who do not have IDs, so also students.” — Sue Halpern (11:50)

6. Case Study: Georgia Elections and Brian Kemp

• Georgia’s election systems were notoriously insecure (2003, 2016), yet officials dismissed warnings.
• Brian Kemp, as Secretary of State, oversaw his own gubernatorial race against Stacey Abrams, using draconian rules to challenge voters based on trivial discrepancies.
  • Quote: “Georgia is...ground zero for the awful things that happen in elections.” — Sue Halpern (13:02)
• Abrams’s 2018 contest was especially contentious, with no auditable ballots used statewide.

7. Contemporary Threats: Technology and Suppression Collide

• New voting machines often provide only unreadable paper receipts (e.g., barcodes), making auditing impossible for ordinary voters.
• Registration databases are vulnerable to hacking—just altering or deleting voter histories can strip voter rights.
  • Quote: “We're in a big mess and we have no leadership in Washington that is able to push through any kind of election security.” — Sue Halpern (16:58)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On public trust:
  “It’s pretty irresponsible of people to suggest [vote compromise], but... it sure doesn’t look good.”
  — Sue Halpern (03:10)

• On systemic problems:
  “You think you know what you said when you voted, but you don’t know what the barcode says.”
  — Sue Halpern (15:46)

• On hope:
  “The cries in the wilderness of the election integrity advocates and the computer scientists have now been heard and people are much, much more aware of some of these problems… we’re in a better position because we know so much more than we knew even four years ago.”
  — Sue Halpern (17:31)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:16-02:46 — Setting the stage: Iowa caucus meltdown, Buttigieg’s connections
• 03:10-06:32 — Shadow app conflicts, technical failure, the aftermath
• 06:32-09:04 — Historical failures: 2000 election, Bush v. Gore, aftermath, & HAVA
• 10:36-12:45 — Voter suppression: strategies since the 1980s, post-VRA rollback
• 12:45-15:26 — Georgia’s election history, Brian Kemp/Stacey Abrams 2018
• 15:26-17:22 — The dual threat: technology failures & voter suppression today
• 17:22-18:38 — Is there hope? Positive signs and ongoing activism for election integrity

Tone & Style

The discussion is candid and deeply critical of both parties’ failings, animated by concern for democracy’s future but buoyed by a sense that awareness is growing and that advocacy can fuel real change.

Conclusion

This episode is a sobering reminder of how technological naïveté, partisanship, and voter suppression intersect to undermine confidence in American elections. Yet, as Sue Halpern emphasizes, increased public vigilance and advocacy may be reason for hope—even if the path to true reform remains daunting.