Microsoft is providing free apps to both the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties to help tablute the results of that state's Feb. 1 Caucus for the U.S Presidental election. However, the campaign for one of the Democratic candidates, Bernie Sanders, is questioning Microsoft's motives and involvement.
According to MSNBC:
"The arrangement has aroused the suspicions of aides to Sanders, whose regularly warns that corporate power and the billionaire class are trying to hijack democracy. Pete D'Alessandro, who is running the Iowa portion of Sanders' campaign, questioned the motives of the major multinational corporation in an interview with MSNBC: "You'd have to ask yourself why they'd want to give something like that away for free."
The Sanders campaign says it will create its own system to double-check the results from Microsoft's app. For its part, a spokesperson for Microsoft said their efforts in Iowa are completely non-partisan:
"Microsoft is providing technology and services solely to administer and facilitate a neutral, accurate, efficient reporting system for the caucuses," the company said in a statement to MSNBC. "We are proud to partner with the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties to ensure accurate results on caucus night."
Source: MSNBC
