Politics & Government

Another Possible Iowa Miscount Could Leave Santorum Smiling and Romney Frowning

One Iowa precinct says the votes were miscounted on Caucus night Tuesday. If so, it would make Rick Santorum the rightful winner of the first in the nation caucus for the GOP presidential nominee, they say.

First or second, at this point does it really make that much of a difference?

On Tuesday night, well Wednesday morning actually, Mitt Romney walked away from the Iowa Caucus the winner by the narrowest of margins. A separated the former Massachusetts governor from runner-up Rick Santorum.

But, gold and silver in this case is nearly interchangeable. Because the vote was so close, both candidates are expected to earn an equal number of Iowa delegates, which go towards deciding the nominee.

Find out what's happening in Iowa Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Second seems to be treating Santorum pretty OK, too. He has brought in $2 million in the two days since the Iowa Caucuses.

Still, there is the matter of bragging rights, and now it's even less clear who gets them.

Find out what's happening in Iowa Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Des Moines TV station KCCI is reporting the vote for Romney may have been over-counted by 20, which would make Santorum the winner.

Here is some of the report:

But in the quiet town of Moulton, Appanoose County, a caucus of 53 people may just blow up the results.

Edward True, 28, of Moulton, said he helped count the votes and jotted the results down on a piece of paper to post to his Facebook page. He said when he checked to make sure the Republican Party of Iowa got the count right, he said he was shocked to find they hadn't.

"When Mitt Romney won Iowa by eight votes and I've got a 20-vote discrepancy here, that right there says Rick Santorum won Iowa," True said. "Not Mitt Romney."

A spokeswoman with the Iowa Republican Party did not immediately address True's assertion, but stressed that he was not a precinct captain and was not authorized to discuss the vote. The 20-vote discrepancy remained, late Thursday, unconfirmed.


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