CABRERA: Iowa is the first state in the nation to hold a 2020 vote. And it wanted to open up a way more people could participate. But now the DNC is planning to stop that, an effort, they say, in the name of election security. The Democratic National Committee has just blocked a plan that would have allowed for virtual caucuses. CNN's Dan Merica here to explain this. Dan, what are DNC officials worried about exactly, and what does this now mean for the Democratic primary process?</s>DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, the key concern is hacking. The idea that you could use your phone to vote in a caucus or register your support in a caucus could be -- they're worried could be hacked and could be compromised. And that would undercut the validity of a caucus like the Iowa -- like the Iowa caucus that will happen early next year. And, really, there's two priorities kind of running into each other inside the Democratic Party. After 2016, there was this desire to open up caucuses, to allow more people to participate, shift workers who may not be able to be there on a set time on a set day because they have work, also people with disabilities. There are concerns about parents, frankly, their ability to go to these caucuses. And that's butting up against this desire to keep Iowa a caucus and keep Iowa first and have New Hampshire go second and be a primary. A big part of this is the fact that they both brand themselves as the first-in-the-nation caucus, first-in-the-nation primary. That's at odds. So, Iowa cannot do anything that would infringe on New Hampshire's right, no paper ballots, nothing like that. And that is what is at issue with the Democratic Party
DNC Opposes Virtual Iowa Caucuses