Buttigieg joins Sanders in requesting partial recanvass of Iowa caucuses

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has requested a partial recanvass of the results of last week’s first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses after totals released by the state Democratic Party showed the former South Bend, Ind., mayor with a narrow lead in the delegate count. 

The Iowa Democratic Party said on Monday that it had received two recanvass requests, one from Buttigieg’s campaign and another from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has also claimed victory in the state based on his 2,500-vote lead in the state’s popular vote.

Buttigieg’s campaign has requested that results from 66 precincts be recanvassed amid reports of errors and inconsistencies in the caucus tabulations. Sanders, meanwhile, asked the state Democratic Party to reexamine the results from 28 precincts.

In a letter to Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price obtained by The Hill, Buttigieg said that the recanvass request was filed in response to Sanders’s request. It argues that a recanvass would result in a net gain of at least 14 state delegate equivalents for the former mayor, while Sanders’s request would result in a gain of fewer than six for the senator.

A letter to Price from Sanders, meanwhile, argued that reporting errors and inconsistencies had caused Buttigieg to receive too many state delegate equivalents, which will ultimately determine the number of national delegates awarded, while he received too few.

Buttigieg’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the recanvass. The deadline for campaigns to request a recanvass of the vote in Iowa was Monday at 12 p.m. CST.

The final outcome of the Iowa caucuses has been called into question amid technical difficulties and reporting discrepancies. Results of the vote were delayed for days last week, and campaigns and political operatives have since raised concerns about the accuracy of the information being released. 

News outlets, including The Associated Press, which typically calls elections, have also declined to name a winner in the race because of the apparent errors.

–This report was updated at 3:48 p.m.