officially kicking off the Democratic presidential primary.

正式拉開民主黨總統初選的序幕。

It was the first big chance

這是第一個大機會

for candidates to seize the momentum

候選人乘勢而上

and it was kind of a disaster.

這是一種災難。

- It all comes down to technology.

- 這一切都歸結於技術。

It appears that this app just failed.

看來這款應用只是失敗了。

- A technical disaster.

- 一場技術災難。

- And what seemed to be coding problem with the app.

- 而似乎是應用的編碼問題。

- You probably heard about this app

- 你可能聽說過這個應用

that was supposed to report results back from the caucuses.

這應該是報告結果 從核心小組。

On the night of the vote, it broke,

在投票的當晚，它破。

which meant the precincts were suddenly sending back totals

這意味著各選區突然發回了總數

through clogged phone lines or, in some cases,

通過堵塞的電話線，或者在某些情況下，。

texting pictures of the caucus worksheet.

黨團工作表的文字圖片。

Because of the incomplete results,

由於結果不完全。

it took days to nail down who had actually won.

花了好幾天時間才確定到底誰贏了。

Now there's no indication that this was a cyber attack

現在沒有任何跡象表明這是一次網絡攻擊。

or a conspiracy or anything,

或陰謀或任何東西。

but it's still a really alarming sign,

但這仍然是一個非常令人震驚的跡象。

particularly as we head into the 2020 general election.

特別是在我們進入2020年大選的時候。

Voting infrastructure is really vulnerable, underfunded,

投票基礎設施確實很脆弱，資金不足。

and increasingly, it's breaking down

越來越多地，它正在崩潰

when we need it the most.

當我們最需要它的時候。

This is one of the biggest threats to democracy right now

這是現在民主最大的威脅之一。

and it comes down to a technology problem.

而這歸根結底是一個技術問題。

But to see why it's happening,

但要想知道為什麼會這樣。

you gotta look at the big picture.

你要看清大局

(dramatic music)

咍

So the problem here was a single app

所以這裡的問題是一個單一的應用程序

made by a firm called Shadow

影子公司製造

to help the more than 1,600 precincts send back results.

以幫助1600多個轄區發回結果。

Unfortunately, the app was made quick and dirty,

不幸的是，這個應用被做得快而髒。

apparently built over two months for just $60,000.

顯然，兩個多月的時間裡，只花了6萬塊錢就建好了。

That might sound like a lot,

這聽起來好像很多。

but when you're making iOS and Android apps

但當你在製作iOS和Android應用時

plus a whole database to maintain the results,

加上整個數據庫來維護結果。

you go through it pretty fast.

你通過它相當快。

When Microsoft bankrolled a similar effort

當微軟為類似的努力提供資金時

for the 2016 Iowa caucuses, members of the team

為2016年愛荷華州黨團，團隊成員。

said the bill was closer to a million dollars.

說，這筆賬目接近百萬元。

The Shadow team also made weird rookie mistakes

影子隊也犯了奇怪的新秀錯誤

like distributing the app through a testing platform

比如通過測試平臺發佈應用

that made it hard to even download.

使得它連下載都很困難。

Even when precincts could download the app,

即使在轄區內可以下載應用。

a coding error meant they could only report partial results,

編碼錯誤意味著他們只能報告部分結果。

which then meant the party had to restart

這就意味著該黨必須重新開始

the entire process from the beginning

始末

just to make sure the numbers were right.

只是為了確保數字是正確的。

Days later, they're still sorting through it all.

幾天後，他們還在整理這一切。

Now apps fail all the time, and given the shoestring budget,

現在應用程序一直在失敗，鑑於預算不足。

it's not that surprising that this one did.

這一點也不奇怪，這個人做到了。

But because it's election tech,

但因為是選舉技術。

the fallout's been really intense.

後遺症的一直很激烈。

- But what we've also seen

- 但我們也看到

is an enormous amount of social media

是一個巨大的社交媒體量

with a whole bunch of crazy conspiracy theories,

與一大堆瘋狂的陰謀論。

a whole lot of arguments

千言萬語

that this is maybe why people shouldn't vote.

這也許就是為什麼人們不應該投票。

- When the tech fails, it hurts the whole process.

- 當技術失敗時，就會傷害到整個過程。

Everyone assumes that things went bad

每個人都認為事情變壞了

because someone wanted to hurt their candidate,

因為有人想傷害他們的候選人。

and it's not a crazy thing to think

這不是一個瘋狂的事情，認為

because in America specifically,

因為在美國具體。

voting has gone from a fundamental right

投票權已經從一項基本權利

to one more piece of the partisan game.

再來一塊黨派遊戲。

A lot of the people running US elections

很多美國選舉的人

just want to turn out as few

只求少出

of the other side's supporters as possible,

的支持者，儘可能地讓對方的。

whether that means kicking people off voter rolls

是否意味著要把人從選民名單上踢出去。

without telling them or shutting down polling places

瞞天過海，封殺投票站

so people have to wait hours just to cast their vote.

所以人們要等上幾個小時才能投票。

Funding's a big part of it too, and this is a big reason

資金也是一個重要的部分，這也是一個重要的原因。

why elections are so underfunded in the US.

為什麼美國的選舉資金如此不足。

Your local polling place is usually run by the county

您當地的投票站通常由縣政府管理。

with only a tiny bit of funding from the state

在國家財政撥款的情況下

and federal governments.

和聯邦政府。

So even when a county election board

所以，即使是縣級選舉委員會

wants to make voting easy and secure,

希望讓投票變得簡單和安全。

they often can't afford to.

他們往往負擔不起。

That weakens the whole system, just like we saw in Iowa.

這將削弱整個系統，就像我們在愛荷華州看到的那樣。

Now it doesn't have to be this way.

現在不一定非要這樣。

Policies like automatic voter registration can stop people

自動選民登記等政策可以阻止人們

from playing political games with voter rolls.

不玩選民名冊的政治遊戲。

More polling places mean shorter lines.

更多的投票站意味著更短的隊伍。

And if you make Election Day a federal holiday,

如果你把選舉日設為聯邦假日，

you won't get a huge rush as soon as work lets out.

你不會一下班就急得團團轉。

You can even spread Election Day out over a whole weekend

你甚至可以把選舉日分散到整個週末。

just so everyone can make it to the polls.

只是為了讓每個人都能去投票。

But we don't do any of that in the US

但我們在美國不做這些事的

and it's because a lot of the people in power

而這是因為很多當權派的人

just don't want everybody to vote.

只是不想讓每個人都投票。

People worry a lot about cyber attacks

人們非常擔心網絡攻擊

on voting infrastructure, but really,

在投票基礎設施上，但實際上。

we don't need hackers to break our election systems.

我們不需要黑客來破壞我們的選舉系統。

We're doing it ourselves.

我們自己做的。

The whole idea of elections,

整個選舉的理念。

the whole idea of democracy itself,

整個民主的理念本身。

is to let these opposing factions agree on a process

是讓這些對立的派別商定一個進程。

and agree to be bound by the result,

並同意接受結果的約束。

even if it doesn't go their way.

即使不順他們的意。

But the more we degrade that system,

但我們越是貶低這個系統。

the less reason there is to trust it

越信越沒譜

and the less it's actually able to resolve those conflicts.

而實際上它越是不能解決這些衝突。

That starts with the tech breaking,

這要從技術突破說起。

tech like the Iowa app, the registration roll,

科技，比如愛華的應用，註冊卷。

the voting machine itself.

投票機本身。

But it ends with a much deeper rupture

但它的結局是更深層次的斷裂。

in the way political power works in this country.

在這個國家的政治權力運作方式中。

And fixing that rupture is gonna be a lot harder

而修復破裂的難度會更大。

than fixing an app.

比修復一個應用。

Thanks for watching.

謝謝你的觀看。

Throw us a like if you liked it,

如果你喜歡，請給我們點個贊。

and if you want to hear me

如果你想聽我說

complain about the government a little bit more,

抱怨政府多一點。

check out our video on robo-calls.

查看我們關於機器人呼叫的視頻。

They're actually doing like an okay job

他們其實做得還不錯

on that one finally, but still, I have some concerns.

最後，但我還是有些擔心。