Iowa Democratic Party says it plans to begin recanvass of caucus results on Sunday

The Iowa Democratic Party will begin a recanvass of the state’s caucus results on Sunday after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg asked the party to reexamine its tallies.

The state party said that it accepted the two campaigns’ requests for a limited-scope recanvass of the caucus results. The candidates had raised concerns about reporting errors and inconsistencies in the data.

The party is expected to provide the campaigns with details related to the timeline of the recanvass and the costs for which campaigns will be responsible. After that, the campaigns will have 24 hours to decide whether they want to proceed with the recanvass.

Once the process begins Sunday, the party said, it is expected to last for two days. 

The announcement came more than a week after voters in Iowa logged their preferences in the Democratic presidential nominating contest. But the final results were delayed amid technical difficulties and reporting discrepancies that now threaten the state’s preeminent position on the primary calendar.

Current caucus results show Buttigieg with a narrow lead over Sanders in the state delegate equivalent count, the traditional metric by which a winner is declared in Iowa. Both candidates have declared victory, with Sanders arguing that he received more total votes than Buttigieg.

The dispute over Iowa prompted the two campaigns to file requests for a partial recanvass of the results on Monday. Buttigieg’s campaign said that its request would give it an additional 14 state delegate equivalents, while Sanders’s request would net him an additional six. 

The Iowa Democratic Party’s announcement came a day after the New Hampshire primary, in which Sanders notched a narrow victory over Buttigieg. With 98 percent of precincts in the state reporting, the Vermont senator led his top rival by less than 2 percentage points.