There are some things that are uniquely American, like apple pie, fireworks on the Fourth of July … and the ridiculous hoopla that surrounds the Iowa caucuses, the first big electoral event in the run-up to the presidential election.

On Friday, the state’s Democratic and Republican parties announced a new system that will be used to count the votes cast by Iowans during the complicated election process. Authorized precinct representatives will use new apps to report results to their party headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa’s capital, when the election takes place early next year.

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