<s>
ORCA	B-Application
was	O
a	O
mobile-optimized	O
web	B-Application
application	I-Application
used	O
as	O
a	O
component	O
of	O
the	O
"	O
get	O
out	O
the	O
vote	O
"	O
(	O
GOTV	O
)	O
efforts	O
for	O
Mitt	O
Romney	O
's	O
2012	O
presidential	O
campaign	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frustrated	O
volunteers	O
reported	O
being	O
unable	O
to	O
access	O
ORCA	B-Application
and	O
criticised	O
a	O
lack	O
of	O
prior	O
briefing	O
,	O
misleading	O
instructions	O
and	O
patchy	O
on-the-day	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Romney	O
aide	O
commented	O
that	O
"	O
Orca	B-Application
is	O
lying	O
on	O
the	O
beach	O
with	O
a	O
harpoon	B-Application
in	O
it.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Romney	O
campaign	O
subsequently	O
defended	O
ORCA	B-Application
as	O
a	O
success	O
,	O
though	O
campaign	O
officials	O
admitted	O
that	O
the	O
system	O
"	O
had	O
its	O
challenges	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conservative	O
activists	O
and	O
writers	O
blamed	O
ORCA	B-Application
for	O
depressing	O
Republican	O
turnout	O
on	O
election	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ORCA	B-Application
has	O
been	O
compared	O
unfavorably	O
with	O
a	O
"	O
get	O
out	O
the	O
vote	O
"	O
and	O
data	O
effort	O
from	O
President	O
Obama	O
,	O
including	O
Project	B-Application
Narwhal	I-Application
,	O
seen	O
as	O
more	O
robust	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
2008	O
US	O
presidential	O
election	O
,	O
the	O
Obama	O
campaign	O
utilized	O
a	O
system	O
called	O
Houdini	B-Application
to	O
enable	O
volunteers	O
to	O
report	O
voting	O
data	O
to	O
a	O
national	O
hotline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
this	O
system	O
encountered	O
problems	O
,	O
the	O
2012	O
Romney	O
campaign	O
's	O
ORCA	B-Application
system	O
aimed	O
to	O
go	O
further	O
by	O
enabling	O
volunteers	O
to	O
report	O
such	O
data	O
to	O
campaign	O
headquarters	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
via	O
their	O
smartphones	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gail	O
Gitcho	O
,	O
the	O
Romney	O
campaign	O
's	O
communications	O
director	O
,	O
told	O
PBS	O
on	O
November	O
5	O
that	O
with	O
the	O
deployment	O
of	O
ORCA	B-Application
on	O
election	O
day	O
,	O
the	O
campaign	O
would	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
tell	O
who	O
had	O
voted	O
in	O
which	O
precincts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
ORCA	B-Application
was	O
chosen	O
to	O
reference	O
the	O
Obama	O
GOTV	O
system	O
,	O
called	O
Project	B-Application
Narwhal	I-Application
;	O
in	O
nature	O
,	O
the	O
orca	B-Application
or	O
killer	O
whale	O
is	O
the	O
only	O
known	O
non-human	O
predator	O
of	O
narwhals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
campaign	O
's	O
spokeswoman	O
Andrea	O
Saul	O
told	O
the	O
Huffington	O
Post	O
that	O
ORCA	B-Application
would	O
provide	O
Romney	O
with	O
"	O
an	O
enormous	O
advantage	O
...	O
By	O
knowing	O
the	O
current	O
results	O
of	O
a	O
state	O
,	O
we	O
can	O
continue	O
to	O
adjust	O
and	O
micro	O
target	O
our	O
get-out-the-vote	O
efforts	O
to	O
ensure	O
a	O
Romney	O
victory.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
campaign	O
,	O
ORCA	B-Application
would	O
identify	O
how	O
between	O
18	O
and	O
23	O
million	O
people	O
had	O
voted	O
on	O
election	O
day	O
,	O
providing	O
"	O
the	O
most	O
accurate	O
ballot	O
projections	O
ever	O
"	O
and	O
ensuring	O
"	O
hyper-accuracy	O
of	O
our	O
supporter	O
targeting	O
as	O
we	O
work	O
to	O
turn	O
them	O
out	O
to	O
the	O
polls.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Obama	O
campaign	O
declined	O
to	O
comment	O
on	O
ORCA	B-Application
but	O
Scott	O
Goodstein	O
,	O
the	O
external	O
online	O
director	O
for	O
the	O
2008	O
Obama	O
campaign	O
,	O
questioned	O
whether	O
it	O
would	O
actually	O
make	O
much	O
difference	O
to	O
potential	O
voters	O
who	O
were	O
sitting	O
out	O
the	O
election	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
pro-Democrat	O
bloggers	O
expressed	O
concerns	O
that	O
the	O
system	O
would	O
facilitate	O
voter	O
suppression	O
but	O
the	O
ORCA	B-Application
training	O
material	O
emphasized	O
that	O
Romney	O
volunteers	O
should	O
under	O
no	O
circumstances	O
talk	O
to	O
or	O
confront	O
voters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
was	O
initially	O
reported	O
to	O
have	O
been	O
developed	O
by	O
an	O
application	O
consulting	O
firm	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
but	O
later	O
reports	O
attributed	O
its	O
development	O
to	O
"	O
an	O
internal	O
'	O
skunkworks	O
 '	O
"	O
comprising	O
"	O
a	O
makeshift	O
team	O
of	O
IT	O
people	O
and	O
volunteers	O
"	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
an	O
outside	O
consultancy	O
,	O
while	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
small	O
consulting	O
companies	O
helped	O
with	O
the	O
implementation	O
of	O
ORCA	B-Application
during	O
election	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Volunteer	O
users	O
of	O
ORCA	B-Application
in	O
Boston	O
were	O
given	O
no	O
hands-on	O
training	O
until	O
the	O
day	O
of	O
the	O
election	O
itself	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
system	O
was	O
turned	O
on	O
at	O
6	O
am	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ORCA	B-Application
was	O
conceived	O
by	O
Rich	O
Beeson	O
,	O
the	O
campaign	O
's	O
political	O
director	O
,	O
and	O
Dan	O
Centinello	O
,	O
Romney	O
's	O
director	O
of	O
voter	O
contact	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Centinello	O
served	O
as	O
the	O
political	O
manager	O
of	O
the	O
Orca	B-Application
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ORCA	B-Application
spending	O
represented	O
only	O
a	O
small	O
portion	O
of	O
the	O
campaign	O
's	O
overall	O
investment	O
in	O
information	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ORCA	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
to	O
work	O
on	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
devices	O
,	O
including	O
iPhones	B-Device
and	O
iPads	B-Device
,	O
Android	B-Application
phones	I-Application
and	O
tablets	O
and	O
BlackBerry	B-Operating_System
phones	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Twitter-style	O
instant	O
messenger	O
system	O
would	O
also	O
enable	O
volunteers	O
and	O
the	O
campaign	O
to	O
share	O
information	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Those	O
without	O
smartphones	B-Application
were	O
also	O
catered	O
for	O
;	O
the	O
Romney	O
campaign	O
would	O
provide	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
voters	O
to	O
enable	O
volunteers	O
to	O
check	O
off	O
individual	O
names	O
and	O
phone	O
the	O
information	O
into	O
the	O
campaign	O
's	O
headquarters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
data	O
they	O
gathered	O
would	O
be	O
monitored	O
by	O
800	O
volunteers	O
at	O
campaign	O
headquarters	O
on	O
the	O
floor	O
of	O
TD	O
Garden	O
in	O
Boston	O
via	O
a	O
Web-based	B-Application
application	I-Application
;	O
it	O
would	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
coordinate	O
contacts	O
throughout	O
election	O
day	O
to	O
pro-Romney	O
voters	O
who	O
had	O
not	O
shown	O
up	O
at	O
the	O
polls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ORCA	B-Application
consisted	O
of	O
11	O
back-end	O
database	B-Application
servers	I-Application
and	O
a	O
single	O
web	B-Application
server	I-Application
and	O
application	B-Application
server	I-Application
providing	O
the	O
front	O
end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Throughout	O
election	O
day	O
,	O
volunteers	O
experienced	O
frequent	O
and	O
widespread	O
problems	O
using	O
ORCA	B-Application
,	O
which	O
crashed	O
periodically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
Romney	O
aide	O
commented	O
that	O
"	O
ORCA	B-Application
is	O
lying	O
on	O
the	O
beach	O
with	O
a	O
harpoon	B-Application
in	O
it.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
John	O
Ekdahl	O
Jr.	O
,	O
a	O
Romney	O
volunteer	O
and	O
web	O
developer	O
in	O
Jacksonville	O
,	O
Florida	O
,	O
wrote	O
a	O
widely	O
discussed	O
account	O
of	O
his	O
experiences	O
with	O
ORCA	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Calling	O
ORCA	B-Application
"	O
an	O
unmitigated	O
disaster	O
,	O
"	O
Ekdahl	O
said	O
that	O
he	O
was	O
"	O
hearing	O
almost	O
universal	O
condemnation	O
of	O
the	O
thing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ekdahl	O
also	O
called	O
the	O
training	O
manuals	O
vague	O
and	O
uninformative	O
;	O
ORCA	B-Application
was	O
regularly	O
described	O
as	O
an	O
"	O
app	O
"	O
,	O
leading	O
to	O
volunteers	O
looking	O
unsuccessfully	O
for	O
it	O
on	O
the	O
iOS	B-Application
App	I-Application
Store	I-Application
and	O
Google	B-Application
Play	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
fact	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
web	B-Application
application	I-Application
,	O
a	O
mobile-enabled	O
website	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
require	O
additional	O
software	O
to	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ORCA	B-Application
exclusively	O
used	O
an	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
Secure	I-Protocol
(	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
)	O
connection	O
but	O
its	O
designers	O
had	O
apparently	O
forgotten	O
to	O
redirect	O
those	O
attempting	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
equivalent	O
HTTP	O
address	O
to	O
the	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
address	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
volunteer	O
wrote	O
on	O
a	O
Romney	O
campaign	O
message	O
board	O
:	O
"	O
I	O
have	O
called	O
the	O
ORCA	B-Application
helpline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ekdahl	O
described	O
the	O
effect	O
of	O
ORCA	B-Application
as	O
being	O
that	O
"	O
30,000	O
+	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
active	O
and	O
fired-up	O
volunteers	O
were	O
wandering	O
around	O
confused	O
and	O
frustrated	O
when	O
they	O
could	O
have	O
been	O
doing	O
anything	O
else	O
to	O
help	O
,	O
like	O
driving	O
people	O
to	O
the	O
polls	O
,	O
phone-banking	O
,	O
walking	O
door-to-door	O
,	O
etc.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
Washington	O
Examiner	O
,	O
by	O
late	O
afternoon	O
on	O
election	O
day	O
ORCA	B-Application
was	O
still	O
predicting	O
a	O
Romney	O
victory	O
with	O
somewhere	O
between	O
290	O
–	O
300	O
electoral	O
college	O
votes	O
–	O
nearly	O
100	O
more	O
than	O
Romney	O
actually	O
received	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Without	O
accurate	O
information	O
from	O
ORCA	B-Application
,	O
Republican	O
officials	O
instead	O
turned	O
to	O
using	O
public	O
news	O
sources	O
or	O
calling	O
counties	O
for	O
information	O
on	O
the	O
outcome	O
of	O
votes	O
in	O
those	O
areas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Moffatt	O
acknowledged	O
that	O
"	O
without	O
a	O
doubt	O
,	O
ORCA	B-Application
had	O
its	O
challenges	O
"	O
but	O
argued	O
that	O
the	O
system	O
had	O
actually	O
worked	O
,	O
despite	O
the	O
reports	O
of	O
problems	O
:	O
"	O
We	O
do	O
n't	O
think	O
Orca	B-Application
's	O
problems	O
had	O
a	O
material	O
impact	O
on	O
the	O
campaign	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
election	O
determinative	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
Romney	O
aide	O
told	O
National	O
Review	O
's	O
Katrina	O
Trinko	O
that	O
in	O
fact	O
ORCA	B-Application
's	O
problems	O
had	O
"	O
no	O
relation	O
to	O
the	O
outcome	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conservative	O
writer	O
Joel	O
B	O
.	O
Pollak	O
suggested	O
that	O
ORCA	B-Application
had	O
ended	O
up	O
suppressing	O
Romney	O
's	O
own	O
vote	O
by	O
tying	O
up	O
campaign	O
volunteers	O
at	O
a	O
critical	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
noted	O
the	O
narrow	O
margin	O
in	O
the	O
key	O
swing	O
states	O
–	O
only	O
some	O
500,000	O
to	O
700,000	O
votes	O
–	O
and	O
calculated	O
that	O
if	O
each	O
of	O
the	O
37,000	O
ORCA	B-Application
volunteers	O
had	O
brought	O
20	O
voters	O
to	O
the	O
polls	O
in	O
those	O
states	O
,	O
the	O
gap	O
could	O
have	O
been	O
closed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Erick	O
Erickson	O
of	O
RedState	O
compared	O
the	O
system	O
to	O
Shamu	O
,	O
a	O
1970s	O
SeaWorld	O
orca	B-Application
,	O
"	O
because	O
it	O
bit	O
the	O
leg	O
of	O
the	O
campaign	O
and	O
would	O
n't	O
let	O
go.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Lara	O
Brown	O
of	O
Villanova	O
University	O
said	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
likely	O
that	O
ORCA	B-Application
had	O
"	O
had	O
a	O
substantial	O
effect	O
"	O
on	O
the	O
turnout	O
,	O
particularly	O
in	O
rural	O
counties	O
of	O
Ohio	O
where	O
Romney	O
had	O
underperformed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ORCA	B-Application
system	O
had	O
not	O
received	O
extensive	O
beta	O
testing	O
before	O
election	O
day	O
,	O
nor	O
did	O
the	O
campaign	O
know	O
how	O
it	O
would	O
interact	O
with	O
the	O
data	O
infrastructure	O
in	O
the	O
TD	O
Garden	O
until	O
the	O
day	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Robert	O
X	O
.	O
Cringely	O
,	O
writing	O
in	O
InfoWorld	O
,	O
concluded	O
that	O
"	O
everything	O
in	O
the	O
Orca	B-Application
rollout	O
went	O
great	O
,	O
except	O
for	O
a	O
failure	O
to	O
do	O
any	O
quality	O
assurance	O
,	O
proof	O
its	O
documentation	O
,	O
or	O
beta	O
test	O
in	O
the	O
seven	O
months	O
from	O
conception	O
to	O
implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whoever	O
was	O
behind	O
Orca	B-Application
apparently	O
also	O
failed	O
to	O
hire	O
a	O
competent	O
Web	O
designer	O
,	O
anticipate	O
server	O
loads	O
,	O
beef	O
up	O
its	O
bandwidth	O
,	O
or	O
notify	O
its	O
ISP	O
to	O
expect	O
a	O
bump	O
in	O
traffic.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
Orca	B-Application
's	O
launch	O
on	O
Election	O
Day	O
was	O
essentially	O
a	O
beta	O
test	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
–	O
not	O
something	O
most	O
IT	O
organizations	O
would	O
do	O
in	O
such	O
a	O
high-stakes	O
environment.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Slate	O
writer	O
Sasha	O
Issenberg	O
argued	O
that	O
the	O
problems	O
ran	O
far	O
deeper	O
than	O
ORCA	B-Application
's	O
technical	O
failings	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
Romney	O
campaign	O
had	O
been	O
left	O
behind	O
by	O
the	O
cutting	O
edge	O
of	O
data	O
science	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
noted	O
that	O
while	O
a	O
system	O
like	O
ORCA	B-Application
could	O
not	O
have	O
changed	O
the	O
demographics	O
,	O
data	O
science	O
did	O
make	O
a	O
great	O
difference	O
to	O
the	O
ability	O
of	O
the	O
two	O
campaigns	O
to	O
target	O
and	O
mobilize	O
their	O
voters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
suggested	O
that	O
ORCA	B-Application
's	O
ability	O
to	O
affect	O
the	O
outcome	O
had	O
been	O
over-hyped	O
by	O
the	O
Romney	O
campaign	O
,	O
as	O
there	O
was	O
only	O
so	O
much	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
done	O
on	O
election	O
day	O
itself	O
:	O
"	O
On	O
short	O
notice	O
,	O
you	O
can	O
send	O
robocalls	O
,	O
reorder	O
a	O
call	O
list	O
and	O
employ	O
paid	O
phone	O
banks	O
,	O
but	O
you	O
are	O
not	O
radically	O
changing	O
the	O
shape	O
of	O
the	O
electorate	O
.	O
</s>
