Demokraternas primärval 2020, februari till juni.

The biggest question is: Why and how did an unproven company end up building this one-off caucus app, which seems entirely distinct from its primary work?

That’s one reason clarifying the relationship between Shadow and Acronym is important. McGowan’s husband, Michael Halle, was Hillary Clinton’s lead organizer in Iowa, and has deep links to the state-party infrastructure. For those upset by the caucus situation—particularly Bernie Sanders supporters who have long had beef with the Democratic hierarchy—the fact that Halle is now a Buttigieg adviser won’t do anything to tamp down their anger. Ben Halle, Michael’s brother, is Buttigieg’s Iowa communications director, who made waves tweeting out caucus result sheets that had an as-yet-unexplained pin number written on them. (I’ve reached out to Halle for comment and will update the piece if I hear back.)

Before the caucus mess, the Iowa Democratic Party had kept the app under tight wraps, refusing to disclose any details about it. Now the only way it can restore trust in the integrity of the process will be to come clean about how it settled on this app developer.