Here is how that played out in real-time

Source / Canva

The chaos was difficult to follow—even for those paying attention.

Unreal. A precinct secretary was on hold on the hotline for an hour and they took him off hold as he was talking to CNN. He didn't respond fast enough and they hung up on him. pic.twitter.com/hPgKhDge7i

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 4, 2020

MORE: Polk County precinct chairs are being advised to take pictures of the results and text them over to the Polk County executive director, who is driving them to the HQ, according to a Democratic operative familiar with the situation

— Elena Schneider (@ec_schneider) February 4, 2020

How the call between the Iowa Democratic Party and campaign representatives went down, per a source on it:
-Party basically read statement about “inconsistencies”
-Campaigns started asking questions and got angry
-IDP hung up the call

— Tyler Pager (@tylerpager) February 4, 2020

The campaigns were really angry at what happened

Screenshot / YouTube

Everyone was waiting on the edge of their seats for the results. When they didn’t come, there were a lot of disgruntled people.

Price sought to defend the process, arguing that the delay in reporting stemmed from the party’s desire to “ensure the integrity of the process” but that the party was working to keep “campaigns in the loop throughout this entire process.”

That did not quell concerns. (2/5)

— Dan Merica (@merica) February 4, 2020

The most direct criticism came from Jeff Weaver, senior adviser to Bernie Sanders’ campaign.

When Price responded to his concern saying there were "reporting issues," Weaver called the response "bogus" and suggested "the whole process has been a fraud for 100 years.” (4/5)

— Dan Merica (@merica) February 4, 2020

This is no way to run an election in Iowa or anywhere. As I‘ve been saying at #ElectionMeltdown book events, you are much more likely to be disenfranchised by incompetence than voter suppression or fraud. https://t.co/G1zlM9pTVL

— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 4, 2020

But at least there was a silver lining…

Screenshot / Charlotte Observer

Will this catastrophe bring about some change? Only time will tell.

An adviser for one of the Dem campaigns tells me this is going to be the end of the Iowa caucus. "It's dead. The campaigns gave them millions of dollars. It's dead."

— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) February 4, 2020

The good news: People are now seeing the Iowa caucuses as a massive undemocratic shitshow with questionable logistics and flawed reasoning for even existing.

— John Buysse (@JohnBuysse) February 4, 2020