Establishment GOP moving Iowa vote count to ¨Undisclosed¨ Location

Note: This measure has arrived after unfounded threats against the voting process were made public in Iowa. The GOP wants to make sure they are the only ones who will know what the result of the voting really is.

By Jonathan Martin
Politico.com
December 28, 2011

Threats to disrupt the Iowa Republican caucuses next week have prompted state GOP officials to move the vote tabulation to an “undisclosed location,” POLITICO has learned.

The state party has not yet told the campaigns exactly where the returns will be added up, only that it will be off-site from the Iowa GOP’s Des Moines headquarters. The 2008 caucus results were tabulated at the state party offices, which sit just a few blocks from the state capitol.

Activist groups including the Occupy movement have indicated that they’ll attempt to interrupt rallies in the closing days before next Tuesday’s caucuses.

The AP reported today that Occupy is making plans to even attend some caucuses and vote “no preference,” but not disturb the voting process.

But Iowa Republicans are also bracing for other threats, sources say, including hacking.

Iowa GOP Chair Matt Strawn wouldn’t comment on the plan to move the vote-counting except to say they’re increasing security measures.

“The Iowa GOP is taking additional safeguards to ensure the Caucus results are tabulated and reported to the public in an accurate and timely manner,” Strawn said. “We are not commenting on specific security procedures.”