纽约时报 爱荷华州的民主党初选风波(4)

In July, according to the email, Kat Atwater, the D.N.C.'s deputy chief technology officer,

该电子邮件显示，民主党全国委员会副CTO凯特·阿特沃特曾在7月

proposed language for vendor¹ contracts that would give the national party access to source code,

为技术支持合同提出过语言方面的参考，中央的民主党人能够籍此访问原始代码，

and allow it to test apps and other products used by the state party.

甚至测试地方民主党人使用的软件及其他产品。

Iowa party officials rejected the proposed language.

但爱荷华州的地方民主党官员拒绝了这一提议。

Weeks later, in August, the national party cited security concerns

几周后的八月，中央党委援引对投票软件的安全考虑，

when it vetoed the Iowa Democratic Party's proposal to hold a "virtual caucus²,"

否决了爱荷华地方党委召开“虚拟投票”，

which would have allowed absentee participation³ by phone.

即缺席现场投票的选民也可使用手机参与投票的提议。

The disagreements delayed approval of Iowa's caucus plan until late September.

双方的分歧致使爱荷华州的投票计划推迟到9月下旬才被通过。

The state would use remote "satellite caucuses⁴" to allow Iowans

该州会开展远程“卫星投票”——

who could not make it to their precinct caucus sites to participate,

便于无法到选区投票现场参加投票的爱荷华人也能参与投票——

and a smartphone app for precinct leaders to report results.

还会启用一款智能手机软件让选区负责人汇报投票结果。

One man would oversee⁵ all of it.

有一个人会负责监管整个流程。

Mr. Price, 39, a lifelong Iowan who became chairman of the state Democratic Party in July 2017, had a sterling⁶ resume.

现年39岁的普莱斯一直住在爱荷华州，于2017年7月当选为该州民主党主席，此人履历非常出色。

He had been an aide to two former Iowa governors and a top figure in both

他曾两度担任爱荷华州州长助手，2012年奥巴马总统在该州参加连任选举，

President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign in the state and in Mrs. Clinton's 2016 run.

2016年希拉里·克林顿在该州竞选时，他都扮演了举足轻重的角色。

He relished⁷ the national attention the caucuses attracted.

他很享受投票小组吸引的来自全国的目光。

In early November, at an annual state party dinner that drew 13,000 people,

11月初，该州民主党举办了一场年度晚宴，出席嘉宾多达13000名，

he spoke⁸ for 18 minutes, longer than any of the presidential candidates did.

晚宴上，他发表了长达18分钟的演讲，比现场任何一位总统候选人的发言都长。

Mr. Price spent the months before the caucuses defending Iowa's pre-eminent position in the presidential primary process,

投票前的数月，候选人纷纷慨叹爱荷华州的投票机制缺乏多样性且晦涩难懂，

as candidates bemoaned⁹ Iowa's lack of diversity and arcane¹⁰ caucusing¹¹ process.

普莱斯一直试图捍卫爱荷华州在总统初选过程中的领先地位。

At an August news conference, Mr. Price projected total confidence.

他在8月份的一次新闻发布会上表示，对爱荷华州的投票工作信心十足。

"Just know this," he said, gesturing with a pointed¹² finger for emphasis.

“但请你记住，”普莱斯边说边伸出食指强调。

"On Feb. 3 of 2020, caucuses will take place in this state. We will be first.

“2020年2月3日爱荷华便会开始投票。我们将成为最早开始投票的州。

And they will be, without a doubt, the most successful caucuses in our party's history."

而且毫无疑问，我们举办的投票活动也会成为我党历史上最成功的投票活动。”

Just days before the caucuses, precinct leaders received their first instructions

距离投票已经只剩几天了，选区领导才第一次收到

for downloading an app they were to use to record and send results.

需要下载即将被用来记录并发送投票结果的软件的指示。

The app was created by Shadow Inc., a company recommended to Iowa party officials

开发该软件的是“影子股份有限公司”，推荐爱荷华民主党官员使用这一软件的

by Democratic leaders in Nevada, who were working with it as well.

是内华达州的民主党领导层，后者与该公司也有合作。

The chief executive of Shadow, Gerard Niemira, was a veteran of the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign,

该公司的CEO杰拉德·尼米拉在2016年希拉里·克林顿的竞选活动中表现得颇有经验，

where he oversaw¹³ tech products like an app the campaign used

当时使用的科技产品，比如用来发挥党团投票使用的古怪公式，

to take advantage of the quirky math of caucuses and track results in real time.

实时追踪投票结果的一款软件便是他负责监控的。

Because of the delays in planning Iowa's caucuses,

由于爱荷华州的投票进程被推迟，

Shadow personnel didn't enter into a contract for the Iowa app until the fall of 2019,

直到2019年秋影子公司才签订为爱荷华州开发这款软件的合同，

compressing an already tight timeline on a deal that paid relatively¹⁴ little —

本就紧张的时间表进一步被压缩，不仅如此，就定制技术服务而言，

a bit more than $60,000 so far — for customized technology services.

此笔交易的酬劳也相对微薄——截至目前仅略高于6万美元。

1 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

2 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

3 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

4 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

5 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

6 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

7 relished   

v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The chaplain relished the privacy and isolation of his verdant surroundings. 牧师十分欣赏他那苍翠的环境所具有的幽雅恬静，与世隔绝的气氛。 来自辞典例句
• Dalleson relished the first portion of the work before him. 达尔生对眼前这工作的前半部分满有兴趣。 来自辞典例句

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 bemoaned   

v.为（某人或某事）抱怨( bemoan的过去式和过去分词 )；悲悼；为…恸哭；哀叹

参考例句：

• The farmer bemoaned his loss. 农夫抱怨他所受到的损失。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He only bemoaned his fate. 他忍受了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

10 arcane   

adj.神秘的，秘密的

参考例句：

• The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
• Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。

11 caucusing   

v.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的现在分词 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

12 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

13 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。