What is behind the debacle is a mobile application, designed for the election campaign by the American company Shadow Inc.

According to Karl Emil Nikka, IT security expert, the application that the Democrats used to suffer from major disadvantages suffers from both a technology and a user perspective.

"This was too badly prepared, they have been running without having tested properly," he tells SVT News.

According to CNN, the app was run last week, which did not go without problems then either.

- We can conclude that the solution they chose to use is not safe enough to stand on their own. It could serve as a complement to how the pre-election vote went, but not as something that can replace actual paper votes, he continues.

Prove to the public

Karl Emil Nikka emphasizes the importance of having the opportunity to review the systems from the outside, to be able to ensure that everything works as it should in the voting process. Something that was not possible in this case.

- If it is not publicly available to review the systems and the application, it is very likely that someone with an interest in the outcome of the election will be able to put ghosts in the brains of those who vote by spreading rumors, for example. We need a paper groove, in the form of, for example, banknotes. If something is unclear in a voting process, we can count the votes again. We must be able to prove to the public that the election went right, he says.

Karl Emil Nikka believes that it will take a long time before an electronic voting system could become relevant at home here in Sweden.

- So far, electronic voting is a crazy idea. We have no opportunity to vote in a democratic election that would be both secure and anonymous. We do not have the certainty today that we could rely on a system completely blind, says Karl Emil Nikka.

A public apology has now been published on Shadow Inc's website.

"We humbly apologize for the delay in the election results," writes the company's CEO Gerard Niemira.

The chairman of the Democrats in Iowa, Troy Price, also deeply regretted the situation that emerged in connection with the fact that a first partial result was presented almost a day after the end of the nomination meetings:

"This is personal to me," he said.

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Democrats President of Iowa Troy Price. Photo: Reuters