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In July, according to the email, Kat Atwater, the D.N.C.'s deputy chief technology officer,
該電子郵件顯示，民主黨全國委員會副CTO凱特·阿特沃特曾在7月
proposed language for vendor contracts that would give the national party access to source code,
為技術支持合同提出過語言方面的參考，中央的民主黨人能夠籍此訪問原始代碼，
and allow it to test apps and other products used by the state party.
甚至測試地方民主黨人使用的軟件及其他產品。
Iowa party officials rejected the proposed language.
但愛荷華州的地方民主黨官員拒絕了這一提議。
Weeks later, in August, the national party cited security concerns
幾周后的八月，中央黨委援引對投票軟件的安全考慮，
when it vetoed the Iowa Democratic Party's proposal to hold a "virtual caucus,"
否決了愛荷華地方黨委召開“虛擬投票”，
which would have allowed absentee participation by phone.
即缺席現場投票的選民也可使用手機參與投票的提議。
The disagreements delayed approval of Iowa's caucus plan until late September.
雙方的分歧致使愛荷華州的投票計劃推遲到9月下旬才被通過。
The state would use remote "satellite caucuses" to allow Iowans
該州會開展遠程“衛星投票”——
who could not make it to their precinct caucus sites to participate,
便于無法到選區投票現場參加投票的愛荷華人也能參與投票——
and a smartphone app for precinct leaders to report results.
還會啟用一款智能手機軟件讓選區負責人匯報投票結果。
One man would oversee all of it.
有一個人會負責監管整個流程。
Mr. Price, 39, a lifelong Iowan who became chairman of the state Democratic Party in July 2017, had a sterling resume.
現年39歲的普萊斯一直住在愛荷華州，于2017年7月當選為該州民主黨主席，此人履歷非常出色。
He had been an aide to two former Iowa governors and a top figure in both
他曾兩度擔任愛荷華州州長助手，2012年奧巴馬總統在該州參加連任選舉，
President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign in the state and in Mrs. Clinton's 2016 run.
2016年希拉里·克林頓在該州競選時，他都扮演了舉足輕重的角色。
He relished the national attention the caucuses attracted.
他很享受投票小組吸引的來自全國的目光。
In early November, at an annual state party dinner that drew 13,000 people,
11月初，該州民主黨舉辦了一場年度晚宴，出席嘉賓多達13000名，
he spoke for 18 minutes, longer than any of the presidential candidates did.
晚宴上，他發表了長達18分鐘的演講，比現場任何一位總統候選人的發言都長。
Mr. Price spent the months before the caucuses defending Iowa's pre-eminent position in the presidential primary process,
投票前的數月，候選人紛紛慨嘆愛荷華州的投票機制缺乏多樣性且晦澀難懂，
as candidates bemoaned Iowa's lack of diversity and arcane caucusing process.
普萊斯一直試圖捍衛愛荷華州在總統初選過程中的領先地位。
At an August news conference, Mr. Price projected total confidence.
他在8月份的一次新聞發布會上表示，對愛荷華州的投票工作信心十足。
"Just know this," he said, gesturing with a pointed finger for emphasis.
“但請你記住，”普萊斯邊說邊伸出食指強調。
"On Feb. 3 of 2020, caucuses will take place in this state. We will be first.
“2020年2月3日愛荷華便會開始投票。我們將成為最早開始投票的州。
And they will be, without a doubt, the most successful caucuses in our party's history."
而且毫無疑問，我們舉辦的投票活動也會成為我黨歷史上最成功的投票活動。”
Just days before the caucuses, precinct leaders received their first instructions
距離投票已經只剩幾天了，選區領導才第一次收到
for downloading an app they were to use to record and send results.
需要下載即將被用來記錄并發送投票結果的軟件的指示。
The app was created by Shadow Inc., a company recommended to Iowa party officials
開發該軟件的是“影子股份有限公司”，推薦愛荷華民主黨官員使用這一軟件的
by Democratic leaders in Nevada, who were working with it as well.
是內華達州的民主黨領導層，后者與該公司也有合作。
The chief executive of Shadow, Gerard Niemira, was a veteran of the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign,
該公司的CEO杰拉德·尼米拉在2016年希拉里·克林頓的競選活動中表現得頗有經驗，
where he oversaw tech products like an app the campaign used
當時使用的科技產品，比如用來發揮黨團投票使用的古怪公式，
to take advantage of the quirky math of caucuses and track results in real time.
實時追蹤投票結果的一款軟件便是他負責監控的。
Because of the delays in planning Iowa's caucuses,
由于愛荷華州的投票進程被推遲，
Shadow personnel didn't enter into a contract for the Iowa app until the fall of 2019,
直到2019年秋影子公司才簽訂為愛荷華州開發這款軟件的合同，
compressing an already tight timeline on a deal that paid relatively little —
本就緊張的時間表進一步被壓縮，不僅如此，就定制技術服務而言，
a bit more than $60,000 so far — for customized technology services.
此筆交易的酬勞也相對微薄——截至目前僅略高于6萬美元。
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