Needless to say, if Monday evening’s Iowa election fiasco took place in some banana republic, somebody would have dispatched Jimmy Carter to launch a monitoring effort by midnight.

It is now clear that asking an all-white audience to play this Byzantine caucus game is an impractical way to open the nominee selection process. And with the victor still undecided days after the gyms have cleared out, the Democratic Party has to admit that this Iowa has done little to earn its vaunted place in electoral politics.

It has, however, caused more chaos and consternation than the party can afford right now, and with so much at stake, that should be a disqualifier.

But put aside the technical glitches, the data inconsistencies, the perplexing rules, and the collapse of an archaic system. Iowa, as often noted, simply should not have an excessive influence on a country to which it bears no resemblance.

It is wrong to follow any electoral trend set by a place that has fewer people than Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, and Essex Counties combined.

Iowa also happens to be 90 percent white, with 2 black mayors in the entire state, and it has never elected a single person of color to statewide office.

And everything about the process is undemocratic, starting with the absence of secret ballots and absentee ballots.

There is a reason that only 15 percent of the voting-eligible population show up to caucus, in contrast to more than 50 percent of New Hampshire primary voters: They are not accessible. Thousands with disabilities cannot participate. Some parents cannot find babysitters, and night shift workers are left out. Former felons are barred from voting, which eliminates one in 10 African-American voters.

As one county official recently told Vox, “This system was designed for 40 people in a living room.”

The system of rewarding delegates also is ludicrous.

Consider this head-scratching math from Mother Jones: It takes only 43 participants in Fremont County — a GPS black hole along the state’s rural southwest edge, where 7,000 people occupy 27 towns — to win a delegate from a caucus. But in Johnson and Story Counties — which host state universities — it takes more than 200. In Polk County, home to Des Moines, the number is 150.

Iowa caucus incredibly undemocratic:



-No absentee voting or secret ballot



-1000s with disabilities can’t participate



-40,000 with past felony convictions barred from voting



-Rural counties get more delegates than urban ones



This is not good way to choose party nominee — Ari Berman (@AriBerman) February 4, 2020

No, Iowa is not a kingmaker, but its place on the calendar confers a crucial role as winnower: It narrows the field, and creates campaign momentum. Some could argue that it made Barack Obama. Some could also argue that it wrecked the presidential ambitions of Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.

But Monday night’s meltdown was no aberration. In 2012, Mitt Romney was declared the winner on the night of the Republican caucuses by a 34-vote margin out of more than 120,000 cast. But the vote totals of eight precincts were somehow left out, and it wasn’t until weeks later than Rick Santorum was awarded the victory — which was too late to give his campaign a boost.

And remember the schoolyard solution employed in the 2016 caucuses, which were so close that 8 precincts used coin flips to decide delegates after their Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders votes ended in a tie. You’d think that Iowa would have made alternate plans if an even number of people showed up in room.

Or at least adopt an electoral system that includes actual ballots and voting booths.

Regardless, the nominee selection process should begin in places that look and vote more like America — preferably one with a diverse and engaged electorate.

This is not intended as a cultural affront toward the Hawkeye State, which is undoubtedly a dynamic hub of Midwest culture and a place people wear ties and dark socks, sometimes simultaneously.

But you had a splendid half-century run at this, Iowans. We salute your dedication to the process, which is a relic of another age. It is time, at least electorally, to catch up to East Nebraska.

"I think the Iowa caucuses are dead, dead, dead. I don't even think that's a discussion anymore," says @davidaxelrod, a longtime believer in the Iowa caucuses, which launched Barack Obama 12 years ago to the White House. — Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) February 4, 2020

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