Updates will appear at the top of the page. The original post follows below.

Update (Ed): We’ll have a lot more on this debacle tomorrow morning, but one of the biggest issues will be the loss of credibility in whatever numbers the Iowa Democratic Party produces. Joe Biden’s legal team has already fired a shot across their bow:

JUST IN: @JoeBiden campaign raises concerns with @iowademocrats regarding “considerable flaws” in tonight’s Caucus reporting system. pic.twitter.com/Khs3Rp2N3O

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) February 4, 2020

There’s a ready-made excuse in the making for what was rumored to be a low Biden turnout.

Update: At 11:35 ET, there’s no sign that we’re getting results anytime soon. I’m going to call it here and get ready for morning blogging. Hopefully we’ll have numbers by dawn. Hopefully.

Update: CNN just read a statement from the Iowa Democratic Party claiming that there were some “inconsistencies” in the three types of results they were receiving tonight — first alignment, final alignment, and delegates awarded. They need those numbers to match, obviously. They claim that there’s no hack of any sort, and they do have paper ballots from each precinct to make sure everything adds up. How long that will take, God only knows. More from NBC:

The IDP results app was not working and the backup phone line is likewise “a disaster,” a source familiar with the process said, adding that the campaign were all participating in a briefing about the situation.

“The app is the issue and the hotline is smoked,” said Joe Galasso, a volunteer in charge of new registrations for Waukee precinct 2. He had just gotten off the phone with precinct chairman Matt Chapman. They have not been able to report their results, even though they wrapped up more than an hour ago.

Update: Klobuchar’s out now to speak, seizing the opportunity to address a big TV audience that’s staring at the screen blankly waiting for news. Warren and Biden are also set to speak soon as of 11:25 ET.

Update: This sounds promising.

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

Update: Comedy gold — a precinct secretary who’d been on hold with the Iowa Democratic Party for an hour to report his results decided to call into CNN to complain while he was waiting. As he was talking to Wolf Blitzer on the air, you could hear the IDP receptionist in the background finally come on the phone on the other line. The precinct secretary tried saying goodbye to Blitzer so he could finally report his results. But he took too long and the receptionist … hung up.

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

Update: The Iowa Democratic Party says around 25 percent of precincts have reported — and that turnout is on pace with 2016 levels. That’s surprising, as Dems thought the big field and the urgency to beat Trump might drive turnout to the stratospheric levels of 2008. Nope. Not so far.

Update: Lots of chatter on CNN right now about how this clusterfark will affect the candidates’ plans. Some of them have overnight flights to New Hampshire scheduled and aren’t sure whether to wait, go out and deliver a speech, or what have you. Others are speculating that the winner tonight will get little to no bounce from Iowa because news of their victory will break overnight and then immediately be crowded out by impeachment and the State of the Union.

At a moment when public faith in American institutions is declining, what could be more fitting than a colossal screw-up in counting the votes for the very first election of the new presidential election cycle?

All whiny-reporter grumbling aside….In the context of a country facing questions about the security of its elections and their potential vulnerability to manipulation, the clumsiness and confusion around these Iowa results is a serious debacle.

— John F. Harris (@harrispolitico) February 4, 2020

As of 11 p.m. ET the Iowa Democratic Party has called an emergency meeting with representatives from each campaign. That’s not what you’d expect if results are imminent.

Update: “Technical issue.”

There is technical issue with Iowa results reporting. Hearing from multiple campaigns that the Iowa Democratic Party is sending a tech staffer to the shared boiler room in Des Moines, where the campaigns have staff headquartered, to brief them momentarily on what’s going on.

— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) February 4, 2020

Update: The WSJ reported a few days ago that “Democrats’ Iowa Caucus Voting App Stirs Security Concerns.” There’s no evidence of a security breach tonight, but hoo boy.

Update: From the NYT: “Additionally, many precinct chairs across the state abandoned the new app that was built to help tabulate and report results as users struggled to log in. They opted instead to use the telephone hotline to report, which can also slow down the reporting of results.” Some political junkies are already grumbling on Twitter that this might be the final straw in convincing the two major parties to find a new state to go first in the presidential primary system. And of course, unless Sanders wins, some of his fans will insist that the “quality control” being done by the Iowa Democratic Party involves tinkering with the numbers to deprive their guy of victory.

Update: Has something gone wrong?

The Iowa Democratic Party says #IowaCaucuses results are coming in slowly because of "quality control." @MauraBarrettNBC reports: There were some issues with downloading the reporting app in the lead-up to the caucuses. pic.twitter.com/Y4VIxXrdxF

— Evan Rosenfeld (@Evan_Rosenfeld) February 4, 2020

CNN is also now reporting that a few hours ago the state Democratic Party was “troubleshooting” the app designed to transmit precinct voting totals to state HQ. Uh oh. Little more from Nate Cohn:

With that in mind, the Iowa Democratic Party saying "quality control" definitely raises my eyebrows. This year, they're getting all the results for the first time.
And I wonder whether they're finding out that people just aren't doing this right a lot more often than they thought

— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) February 4, 2020

Update: It’s 10:20 p.m. ET and we still have … no results. Wolf Blitzer is on CNN reporting that by this time on previous caucus nights we’d have 80 percent or so of precincts reporting.

Update: I’ve seen more than one report from election-watchers on social media that Buttigieg is gaining between the first and final alignments. It’s probably Klobuchar supporters who are shifting to him. Bad news for Biden, who was hoping to take most of those Amy voters.

Update: It’s 9:37 ET and we still have no real results. CNN is passing the time by goofing on Biden fans.

Tapper's out in Iowa body bagging the Biden campaign. Brutal. pic.twitter.com/GGcsCg25y4

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) February 4, 2020

Update: A possible answer to my last question: The Dem establishment sticks with Biden.

Reality check for those calling IA a “Biden implosion:” this caucus is totally unrepresentative of larger Dem primary electorate. Why?

1. It’s a caucus (unlike 90% of contests), rewarding passion on left
2. 90%+ white
3. Really young (21% under 35)

All of Biden’s worst things.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) February 4, 2020

Update: I don’t know, man. If Biden and Klobuchar finish fourth and fifth tonight, what’s the Democratic establishment’s move tomorrow? Back Buttigieg?

Getting reports that Biden not viable at some bigger caucus sites.

For example, 650 at Iowa City-1 at City High (below), and Biden not viable with 51 supporters.

Sanders, Klobuchar, Buttigieg Warren viable.#iacaucus2020 pic.twitter.com/NgdGiZ4mS6

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 4, 2020

Update: No evidence of any Klomentum thus far either at 9 p.m. I believe she’s been nonviable at every precinct CNN has visited. However…

Sanders 76, Klobuchar 75, Buttigieg 70, Warren 59. Biden not viable at 37.

Amy K hitting her mark in an educated suburb, Biden not so much. https://t.co/oYMhgzMFrG

— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) February 4, 2020

Update: Still no official results as we approach 9 p.m. ET but I have yet to hear any good news for Biden on the ground:

Biden on verge of not being viable at this Johnston precinct 2 caucus in round one. His supporters seem crushed.

— Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) February 4, 2020

Update: Yet another bad omen for Biden:

Widespread reports of Joe Biden barely/not viable in types of precincts he should be to have any type of chance. Having a hard time seeing him in top three…long way to go.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) February 4, 2020

Just to empty my notebook, common refrain around Iowa over the past few days was that Joe Biden had a very weak operation on the ground. Folks expressed confidence about Buttigieg/Sanders/Warren's field programs but there was concern about Klobuchar and her ability to scale

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 4, 2020

Update: Jake Tapper’s at a precinct in Des Moines and the Yang group is bigger than Biden’s group. Heavy sweating right now at the DNC.

Update: CNN’s entrance poll finds Sanders crushing it among young Democrats, as expected. He’s winning 51 percent of the 17-29 group. Buttigieg is second at, er, 16 percent. Biden is at four percent(!). Among older voters, it’s the opposite: Biden ahead with 37 percent, Buttigieg at 22, Bernie at four. I hope the oldies showed up tonight for Joe’s sake.

Update: CNN has reporters at various precincts across Iowa. Anecdotally, there appears to be a lot of support for Bernie and Warren, not so much for Biden.

Update: Hoo boy. FiveThirtyEight sniffed around for the results of that Des Moines Register poll that got spiked at the last second on Saturday night due to possibly flawed methodology. Turns out they weren’t good for Joe.

Nevertheless, a tweet made the rounds that night purporting to give the poll’s results, and after doing some reporting around this, FiveThirtyEight can confirm that it contains the correct final findings of the unreleased Iowa poll: Sanders 22 percent, Warren 18 percent, Buttigieg 16 percent, Biden 13 percent. Imagine the news cycle that would have been, with national front-runner Biden making such a poor showing in the last, highest-profile poll before the caucuses.

A fourth-place finish for Biden, with him not even making the 15 percent cut in many places, is the establishment nightmare scenario.

*****

I get to use the plural of “caucus” in my headline because, believe it or not, the Iowa GOP is holding one tonight too. Why they’d bother is unclear; presumably they’re worried about Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status amid criticism that it’s outdated and want to keep as many voters as possible engaged in the process. But good on ’em for making Iowans turn out instead of canceling their election like various other states have done in order to genuflect towards Trump.

The Democratic caucus is effectively the only game in town, though. If you missed Ed’s post earlier explaining the rules tonight, here they are again in a nutshell. There’ll be two rounds of voting. The so-called first alignment is an old-fashioned “choose your favorite candidate” contest. Any candidate who clears 15 percent in that one moves on to round two, the final alignment. Any candidate who falls short of 15 percent is eliminated. Supporters of eliminated candidates are free at that point to switch to a different candidate, or to go home.

The whole fun of the caucus is people trying to persuade fans of failed candidates to join them between the first alignment and the final one. What’s intriguing about tonight’s slate of candidates is that each of the two “lanes” in the primary, moderates and progressives, has an obvious frontrunner and an obvious second choice who may or may not be able to clear 15 percent in many precincts. Bernie Sanders will have a big night if Elizabeth Warren can’t quite make it to 15 percent across the state; falling short would mean that her lefty fans would be free agents for the final alignment, and we all know whom they’d be likely to swing towards. Similarly, things will look good for Joe Biden if centrist-y Amy Klobuchar flames out short of 15 percent in various precincts. He’s likely to pick up many of her supporters as a second choice. As for where Pete Buttigieg’s supporters would go if he fails to make the cut, it’s anyone’s guess.

Right now Buttigieg stands at 16.8 percent in the RCP average of Iowa, with Warren right on the bubble at 15.5 percent and Klobuchar trailing at nine percent. That may mean Biden’s likely to pick up second-choice votes in more *precincts* than Bernie is since Klobuchar’s more likely to miss the cut across the state, but Bernie may end up picking up more second-choice *votes* than Biden since Warren’s support is stronger than Klobuchar’s. There’ll be more free agents from Team Liz if she fails to clear the 15 percent threshold in a given precinct than there will be from Team Amy, in all likelihood.

So, who’s likely to win? Each member of the Democrats’ big four has led in the RCP average at some point since mid-November but tonight someone has to prevail — in theory. In reality, “winning” can be defined in many ways. The final alignment will (mostly) decide how many delegates each candidate gets. And in the end, delegates are to the primary process what runs are to baseball, the only statistic that matters to the outcome. Whoever wins the most delegates tonight will be declared the “winner” — although if a different candidate happens to get a higher percentage of votes on the final alignment than the delegate winner, naturally that candidate will declare him or herself the real “winner.” And of course, if a third candidate happens to get the most votes on the first alignment, he or she will also declare themselves the “winner.” And yes, believe it or not, it’s possible we’ll have a different “winner” by each of those three metrics. Nate Cohn ran the numbers.

The reason delegate totals may not be proportional to the outcome of the final alignment is complicated and comes down to the fact that rural precincts “weigh” a little more heavily than urban ones. Read Cohn or Nate Silver if you want the nuts and bolts of that. Suffice it to say, it’s strange that a party that depends heavily in national elections on urban and nonwhite voters is holding its first presidential race in an overwhelmingly white state where rural areas are a bit more important than cities. And not even a state that’s a battleground anymore. Iowa is reliably red under Trump.

Let’s pre-game some narratives. I think either Sanders or Biden could stomach finishing a close second to the other. Each man has a likely victory ahead of him, with Bernie surging in New Hampshire and Biden seemingly a lock in South Carolina. Sanders obviously wants to win tonight, though, in order to prove that This Time Is Different and to send his fans over the moon, as they’re likely to shower him with even more cash if they’re encouraged by the result. He already enjoys a considerable financial advantage over the field; winning Iowa and New Hampshire might produce a fundraising burst that’s decisive. If he finishes a close second to Biden, eh, then he can look ahead to New Hampshire and get ready for war in Nevada. But losing a tight race to Biden here would make this election suddenly feel like 2016, which didn’t work out well for Bernie.

Biden could also tolerate losing narrowly to Sanders. It’d be a bad sign, but a rebound in Nevada would steady the ship and then a win the following week in South Carolina would give him momentum. He’d obviously like a win in Iowa, though, since it would cement the perspective that he’s for real and allow him to shrug off a likely Bernie victory in New Hampshire next week. If he takes three of the first four, he’d be heavily favored to be the nominee. Where things get interesting is the non-negligible possibility that Buttigieg will sneak into the top two or even win the caucus outright — and if you think that’s unlikely, note that a new poll this morning of Iowa placed him first at 19 percent, with Sanders second at 17. Biden finished third in that one at 15 percent, just four points back of the winner, but a third-or-worse finish by either Joe or Bernie would obviously be catastrophic to perceptions of their viability tomorrow. That’s really what tonight’s all about: Viability. Either candidate or both could claim to be viable if they’re in the top two. If one isn’t then the Democratic center or the progressive left will be in panic mode tomorrow.

The nightmare scenario for each of them is not only finishing third but finishing behind the other candidate in their “lane.” Klobuchar’s rise in the polls appears to have stalled lately but if she were to finish ahead of Joe tonight the narrative tomorrow would be that centrist Dems had given up on him at the moment of truth and opted for a younger alternative. It’d be catastrophic for him, particularly given how lackluster Klobuchar’s polling has been. A surprise in which Elizabeth Warren surges past Bernie would have a similar effect on the lefty side of the field. Sanders has spent the past two months reestablishing himself as the progressive choice in the race. If Warren were to outpace him tonight for whatever reason, possibly because undecideds view her as an acceptable middle ground between Sanders and Biden, then all of that would disappear in a flash. Warren’s campaign would be reborn and she’d likely be in the race through Super Tuesday and beyond, hoarding progressive votes from Bernie that he needs to get past Biden.

As such, I think the home-run scenario for each man tonight is a win coupled by a bad defeat by the candidate in their lane and/or a strong showing by the second-place candidate in the other lane. If Biden wins, Warren and Sanders end up more or less tied for second and Buttigieg and Klobuchar flame out, that leaves Joe to consolidate centrists while the two leftists split progressives going forward. If Sanders wins, Biden and Klobuchar (and Buttigieg?) more or less tie, and Warren underperforms, then the left will unite and establishmentarians will bicker and panic.

The caucus begins at 8 p.m. ET. For what it’s worth, Silver’s model gives Biden a 43 percent chance to win a majority of Iowa delegates followed by Sanders at 31 percent. As far as rooting interests go, you’re free to pull for whichever candidate you think would make the easiest match-up for the GOP (probably Warren) but I think that’s a fool’s errand and a lesson everyone should have learned after Democrats popped the champagne in 2016 at the prospect of facing Trump. Philip Klein’s wise to pull for Klobuchar, the best combination of sanity, youth, and experience in the bunch, purely on the theory that Democrats always stand a good chance of winning a presidential election and in case that happens we need someone in charge who’s neither senile nor radical nor still a few years away from their 40th birthday. Stay tuned for updates.