Iowa Ballot Counter: Santorum Won

Mitt Romney's 8-vote victory in Iowa was the result of a typo, according to an Iowa man who helped count the votes. Edward True, a Ron Paul supporter, says there were just 2 votes for Romney at his 53-person caucus, but the Iowa Republican Party's website says there were 22. The discrepancy "says Rick Santorum won Iowa—not Mitt Romney," True asserts. Party officials say True is not a precinct captain and shouldn't be talking about results, and discrepancies won't be discussed until all results are certified, which could take weeks.

If the results turn out to be wrong, "this will make Iowa look a little foolish in the eyes of the rest of the country, which already questions the seriousness of the caucuses," a political analyst tells KCCI-TV in Des Moines. Santorum himself pooh-poohed the revelation on Fox News last night: He says he spoke to the chair of the state's Republican Party, and was told "that there was one county where there was a 20-vote mistake in my favor but there was a 21-vote mistake in Romney's favor so it actually netted out to what I understand is a one-vote difference"—which would boost Romney's win to nine votes. "That doesn't really matter to me. I mean, this was a tie," said Santorum. (More Iowa caucuses stories.)