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In November, Iowa officials gathered in Des Moines with Harvard election security experts including Robby Mook,
11月，爱荷华官员在得梅因与罗比·穆克，希拉里·克林顿2016年大选选举经理，等来自哈佛大学的选举安全专家，
Mrs. Clinton's 2016 campaign manager, to test processes involved in the caucuses.
一同测试了投票的各个环节。
But the app wasn't part of the exercise.
然而，该软件并未在测试项目之内。
Still, Shadow developed an initial version of the app that month and began testing and updating it,
尽管如此，影子公司依然在当月开发出了软件的初始版本，随后便开始了软件的测试升级，
according to a person involved in the effort.
据参与了该软件开发的一位知情人士透露。
As the caucus date approached, more updates came, but the developers didn't regard them as critical.
随着投票日期临近，软件的更新幅度也在增加，但开发人员并未对更新内容予以足够重视。
The weekend before the caucuses, officials from Shadow, the state party and the D.N.C. gathered to run final tests.
投票开始前的那个周末，影子公司的官员，民主党地方党委和全国委员会一起做了软件的最后一轮测试。
They fed in false data to verify that the quality-control system would catch anything amiss.
为了验证软件的质量控制系统不会遗漏任何错误，他们蓄意输入了错误的数据。
The app worked well, according to a person involved.
结果软件运行良好，据一位相关人士透露。
But no evidence arose of a bug that would jumble a portion of the results on caucus night.
然而，会在投票之夜扰乱部分投票的漏洞当晚没有露出任何蛛丝马迹。
The Sunday before the caucuses, Mr. Price kept up a busy schedule.
投票前的周日，普莱斯的日程依然安排得十分紧凑。
He taped an interview with Kasie Hunt of MSNBC in the early afternoon.
下午早些时候，他与微软全国广播公司（msnbc）的凯西·亨特录制了一期采访节目。
He posed for a photo on the Fox News set with Donna Brazile, a former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.
又去了《福克斯新闻》的片场与民主党全国委员会前主席唐娜·布拉西尔合影留念。
In the evening, he was at a Super Bowl party with Senator Amy Klobuchar.
当晚，他还与参议员艾米·克洛布查尔出现在了超级碗的派对上。
Yet in Polk County, where Democrats were preparing for 177 precinct caucuses,
然而，民主党在波尔克郡为177个选区的投票工作做准备的一周里，
it had already been clear all week that the app had problems.
就已经有清楚的迹象表明投票软件有问题。
When precinct chairs reported issues,
选区主席向州党委汇报了这一情况，
the state party referred them to a lone help-desk employee, who did not always respond to calls and emails.
后者却让他们去找服务台的唯一一名工作人员，尽管后者并非每个电话都接，每封邮件都回。
Six hours before the caucuses were to start at 7 p.m. Monday,
距离周一晚7点投票开始的6个小时前，
precinct leaders received a final email about the app with an ominous instruction:
选区负责人才收到有关软件的最后一封邮件，邮件中还附带了一条有些不妙的提示：
"If the app stalls/freezes/locks up: Close out of the app and log back in with your PIN.
“如果软件出现卡顿/停止运行/锁定等问题，可退出软件使用密码重新登陆。
The app should save where you were.
软件将保存之前所在页面。
If it does not, please call in your results."
如果没有，请致电说明。”
Most precinct caucuses ran smoothly across the state.
整个州大多数选区的投票环节进展都算顺利。
But when some precinct leaders tried to report the results, the app sometimes froze.
但有些选区领导报告投票结果时有时会出现软件中途停止运行的情况。
Calls to the state party hotline sometimes languished on hold for five hours.
打给州党委客服的电话有时会被搁置足足五个小时。
To relieve pressure on the state party,
为减轻州党委的压力，
D.N.C. officials executed a contingency plan created for natural disasters or terror events:
DNC官员启动了原本为自然灾害或恐怖事件制定的应急计划：
using a backup call center at the party's headquarters on South Capitol Street in Washington, where about 40 people began taking calls.
启用该党总部位于华盛顿南国会街的的备用客服中心。随即，大约40名客服开始接听爱荷华州的电话。
By then, it was clear that a catastrophe was taking place at the Iowa Events Center,
充当此次投票中心的是原本用于举办车展及州摔跤锦标赛的爱荷华州活动中心，
a venue for auto shows and state wrestling tournaments that was serving as caucus central.
截至当时，形势已经很明朗：该中心已经陷入了一场灾难。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
