纽约时报 爱荷华州的民主党初选风波(6)

The state party's phones were jammed.

州党委的电话都被打爆了。

Users on the website 4chan had publicly posted the election hotline number and encouraged one another to "clog¹ the lines."

4chan网站的用户公布了选举的热线电话，还鼓励大家一起“打爆热线”。

The party's volunteer phone operators also had to deflect² calls from television news reporters

担任接线员的志愿者还要应付为了解投票结果已经打了数小时电话

in search of caucus³ results that were hours overdue⁴.

的电视台新闻记者的电话。

One floor below, representatives from the seven presidential campaigns competing in Iowa

参加爱荷华州竞选的7个总统竞选团队的代表们在楼下与客服一层之隔的

waited in a room with no windows, no food, no water and no information.

一个没有窗户，没有食物也没有水的房间里焦急地等待着，他们也没有收到任何信息。

They took turns trying to call state party officials in search of information.

为了解信息，他们尝试轮流给州党委的官员打电话。

On a conference call with the campaigns later that night, Mr. Price struggled to explain the information blackout.

当天晚些时候，在与竞选团队的电话会议中，普莱斯竭力跟代表们解释信息封锁的原因。

He said the problems stemmed from party officials having to collect three sets of data from all precincts for the first time.

他称，问题出在民主党官员们这次是第一次从选区收集三套而非一套投票数据。

"You always had to calculate these numbers, all we're asking is that you report them for the first time,"

“你们不是一直都需要统计这些数据吗？我们只要求你们能汇报这次的数据，”

Jeff Weaver⁵, Mr. Sanders's closest adviser⁶, said he told Mr. Price on the call.

桑德斯最亲密的顾问杰夫·韦弗称他曾在电话中对普莱斯说道。

"If you haven't been calculating these numbers all along, it's been a fraud for 100 years."

“如果你们一直以来都没有统计过这些数据，那爱荷华州这100年来的选举就是一场骗局。”

Mr. Price ended the call.

普莱斯挂断了电话。

As engineers scrambled⁷ to repair the app, panicked Iowa party leaders were making a choice.

就在工程师们慌乱地抢修软件时，惊慌失措的爱荷华民主党领导作了一个决定。

It was time, they decided⁸, to abandon digital methods and rely on the old ways,

他们决定，是时候放弃数字统计回归传统，

gathering⁹ data over the phone and doing the math by hand — a decision that would open a whole new can of worms.

通过电话收集投票数据并人工计算投票数量了，然而，这个决定带来的只是成堆的新问题。

Each precinct leader had 36 separate figures to report, along with two separate six-digit verification numbers —

原来，每个选区负责人都有36个独立的数据要汇报，还有两个独立的6位数的验证码——

and there were more than 1,700 precincts, including the satellites.

而算上使用卫星投票的选区，整个爱荷华州有1700多个选区。

In the chaos¹⁰, caucus results collected by phone operators were riddled¹¹ with errors.

电话接线员们在一片混乱中搜集到的投票结果往往错误百出。

Dozens of the volunteers returned over the next three days to crosscheck them

接下来的三天里，数十名志愿者再次返岗帮忙核对投票数据，

and input¹² results from caucus worksheets that came in by email or through the app.

输入用邮件或是软件发送的投票表的结果。

One was delivered days later by the Postal¹³ Service.

有一张用邮递送回的投票表延迟了数天才被收到。

In the Times review of the data, at least 10 percent of precincts

《纽约时报》对投票数据的回顾显示，根据汇报的投票总数来看，

appeared to have improperly¹⁴ allocated¹⁵ their delegates, based on reported vote totals.

至少有10%的选区疑似存在分配选举代表名额分配不当的问题。

In some cases, precincts awarded more delegates than they had to give; in others, they awarded fewer.

一些选区分配的代表人数超过了他们应当分配的数量；一些又没有达到应当分配的人数。

More than two dozen precincts appeared to give delegates to candidates who did not qualify as viable¹⁶ under the caucus rules.

还有超过24个选区疑似给根据投票规则并不具备拥有选举代表名额的参选人分配了选举代表名额。

Given the slim lead Mr. Buttigieg now holds over Mr. Sanders in state delegate equivalents,

鉴于皮特·布蒂吉格在该州的州代表对应值上仅略微领先桑德斯，

a full accounting¹⁷ of these inconsistencies could alter the outcome.

对这类不一致之处展开整体统计或将扭转二人的胜负结果。

But without access to the precinct worksheets, it is difficult to determine whom the errors hurt or favored.

但若无法获取选区的投票表，就很难确定那些失误伤害或眷顾的究竟是哪一方。

As caucus night gave way to a week of finger-pointing,

投票之夜逐渐为接下来一周的互相指摘让出了舞台，

some local Democratic volunteers expressed anger at what they saw as efforts by national party officials to blame Iowa for the mess.

在民主党的一些地方志愿者看来，中央党委将此次混乱的责任归结到了爱荷华州头上，他们对此表示十分愤怒。

"The D.N.C.'s kind of hanging us out to dry," said Steve Drahozal, the Democratic chairman in Dubuque County.

“全国委员会分明就是在袖手旁观，”迪伯克郡民主党主席史蒂夫·德拉霍扎尔说。

"Instead of saying ‘Good job!' to the local volunteers, they're disrespecting a lot of grass-roots organizing that was done.

“他们不仅没有肯定当地志愿者的付出，还不尊重他们所做的很多基层工作。

There are criticisms they can make, but this was an extremely smooth, well-organized caucus.

他们可以提出批评，但这次投票活动明明开展得非常顺利，组织得也很好。

We just couldn't get the data reported."

我们只是没有拿到最后的数据而已。”

1 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。

2 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

3 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

4 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

5 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

13 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

14 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

15 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

16 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

17 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。