Orange City, Iowa — Monday night’s Iowa Caucuses brought a huge crowd of attendees to caucus locations in Sioux County, as well as an apparent misunderstanding that caused some minor controversy after the caucus.
Sioux County Republican Party Chairman Mark Lundberg tells KIWA that his caucus locations were prepared for a 50% increase in caucus participants, but instead saw a 120% increase. Lundberg acknowledged that some voters in some Sioux County caucus locations were allowed to cast their ballots prior to the evening’s speeches in favor of the individual candidates, in order to free up space for other caucus goers who would otherwise not have been able to enter the caucus rooms.
Lundberg stressed, however, that every voter who cast a ballot was a valid voter, and that every vote cast was a valid vote. Lundberg accepted the blame for what he called the misinformation supplied to caucus location workers. He said those workers did an outstanding job, especially considering how many more people showed up to caucus than they were prepared for.
Lundberg says that, while no caucus rules were broken, the Sioux County Republican Party will work to correct any flaws that may have shown up Monday night.
