Take
One: Romney. Take Two: Santorum
"Romney Wins By 8
Votes" proclaimed
the headline of the January 4 Des
Moines Register. The result, although all but a tie, gave
Romney momentum going into New Hampshire, while Santorum's close second
also
provided him a boost. However, very soon afterwards a bit of
controversy arose over the vote
tally in Appanoose County; there was a suggestion that a 20-vote
discrepancy may have given Romney his eight-vote margin. (See the
affidavit of Edward L. True as posted at watchthevote2012.com [1, 2]). The
controversy prompted the
statement
below
from the Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn. The Iowa GOP continued
with its certification process over the next couple of weeks, and on
January 19 announced certified vote totals which put Santorum ahead by
34 votes. It must be
noted that the certified results
were missing eight precincts so there is no way of telling who "really"
won.
Perceptions matter, and one wonders how the New Hampshire result
might have
been affected had Santorum been reported as the narrow winner of the
caucuses. The "take two" announcement came just a couple of days
before the South Carolina primary and did provide a bit of a boost to
Santorum and a ding on Romney.
PRESS RELEASE from Republican
Party of Iowa
January 5, 2012
Statement from Iowa GOP
Chairman Matt Strawn Regarding Appanoose County Caucus Results
Des Moines -
Iowa GOP Chairman
Matt Strawn statement regarding Appanoose County caucus results:
"Iowa
GOP rules provide for a two-week certification process for each of the
1,774 precincts. The Iowa GOP will announce the final, certified
results of the 2012 Iowa Causes following this process. Out of respect
to the candidates involved, party officials we will not respond to
every rumor, innuendo or allegation during the two week process.
That
said, Iowa GOP officials have been in contact with Appanoose County
Republican officials tonight and do not have any reason to believe the
final, certified results of Appanoose County will change the outcome of
Tuesday's vote."
PRESS RELEASE from Republican
Party of Iowa
January 18, 2012
Update on Iowa
Caucus Presidential Preference
Vote Certification Process
Following
the closest vote total in the history of the Iowa Caucuses, Republican
Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn today provided an update on the vote
certification process, timeline for the public release of results, and
the availability of certification documents for public inspection.
As
noted during the announcement of the Caucus Night vote totals, Iowa GOP
rules provide for a 14-day period by which each of Iowa's 99 counties
are required to submit to a Form E document from each of the caucus
precincts within the county. The Form E document is the official record
of the presidential preference vote in each of Iowa's 1,774 precincts.
The 14-day period sets close of business (5 p.m. CST), Wednesday,
January 18 as the deadline for county Republican officials to submit
the Form E documents.
Iowa GOP staff is working throughout the
day to assist counties and precincts in meeting this requirement by
today's 5 p.m. deadline.
Timeline for Public Release of Results & Inspection of Form E
Certification Documents:
The
Iowa GOP will publicly release the certified vote totals of the 2012
Republican Caucuses at 8:15 a.m. (CST) on Thursday, January 19. The
certified "Form E" precinct documents will then be made available for
inspection by presidential campaign representatives at 9:00 a.m.
(CST) at the Republican Party of Iowa Headquarters in Des Moines.
The
certified "Form E" precinct documents will then be made available for
inspection by members of the news media starting at 11:00 a.m. (CST).
PRESS
RELEASE
from
Republican
Party of Iowa
January 19, 2012
Iowa GOP Releases Certified Iowa Caucus
Presidential Preference Vote Totals
Des
Moines, IA – The Republican Party of Iowa today released the final,
certified vote totals of the January 3 Iowa Caucus presidential
preference vote. The final, certified vote totals represent 1,766 of
the state’s 1,774 caucus precincts, and reflect a record-breaking
121,503 Iowans who participated.
2012 Iowa Republican Caucus Certified
vote totals (1766/1774 precincts certified)
Rick
Santorum
29,839
Mitt
Romney
29,805
Ron
Paul
26,036
Newt
Gingrich
16,163
Rick Perry
12,557
Michele Bachmann
6,046
Jon
Huntsman
739
No
Preference
147
Other
86
Herman
Cain
45
Sarah
Palin
23
Buddy
Roemer
17
Total
(1766/1774) 121,503
Certified
vote totals were unavailable for eight of Iowa’s 1,774 precincts. Full,
certified vote totals per precinct are available online at
www.iowagop.org.
“Just
as I did in the early morning hours on January 4, I congratulate
Senator Santorum and Governor Romney on a hard-fought effort during the
closest contest in caucus history,” said Republican Party of Iowa
Chairman Matt Strawn. “Our goal throughout the certification process
was to most accurately reflect and report how Iowans voted the evening
of January 3. We understand the importance to the candidates involved,
but as Iowans, we understand the responsibility we have as temporary
caretakers of the Iowa caucuses.””
As
Strawn noted during the January 4 announcement of unofficial caucus
night vote totals, Iowa GOP rules provided for a 14-day period by which
each of Iowa’s 99 counties were required to submit a Form E document
from each of the caucus precincts within the county. The Form E
document is the official record of the presidential preference vote in
each of Iowa’s 1,774 precincts. The deadline for county
Republican
officials to submit the Form E documents was 5 p.m. (CST) on Wednesday,
January 18. Following Wednesday’s deadline, Iowa GOP officials
were
able to certify results from 1,766 of the state’s 1,774 precincts.
Strawn
noted that a hallmark of the Iowa caucuses is the openness and
transparency within which the proceedings occur. Not only do
voting
Iowans and presidential campaign representatives have the opportunity
to observe the vote counting in each of the state’s precincts, but each
presidential campaign had senior campaign officials in the Iowa GOP’s
official tabulation center on caucus night.
Strawn
indicated this openness and transparency will continue during the
post-certification period as the Iowa GOP will be making the precinct
caucus Form E documents submitted during the certification process
available for review to both presidential campaign officials and
members of the media.
PRESS RELEASE from Republican
Party of Iowa
January 20, 2012
Republican
Party
of Iowa Affirms Santorum Winner of 2012 Iowa Caucus
In
order to clarify conflicting reports and to affirm the results released
January 18 by the Republican Party of Iowa, Chairman Matthew Strawn and
the State Central Committee declared Senator Rick Santorum the winner
of the 2012 Iowa Caucus.
PRESS
RELEASE
from
Rick Santorum for President
January 19, 2012
For Immediate Release
Contact: Matt Beynon
SANTORUM WINS IOWA
Mt. Pleasant, SC -
Rick Santorum wins the Iowa Caucus.
Hogan
Gidley, National Communications Director, said: "We've had two early
state contests with two winners - and the narrative that Governor
Romney and the media have been
touting of 'inevitability' has been destroyed. Conservatives can
now
see and believe they don't have to settle for Romney, the
Establishment's moderate candidate - who authored the model for
Obamacare that provided taxpayer funded abortions, who boasted that he
was more socially liberal than Ted Kennedy, and who supported Wall
Street bailouts. There is a consistent conservative alternative who has
the proven record of reforming entitlements, defending the unborn, and
standing up for American exceptionalism around the Globe - and has
proven that he is the one man in this race able to defeat Mitt Romney.
That candidate is Rick Santorum. This
latest defeat of Governor Romney in Iowa is just the beginning,
and
Rick Santorum is committed to continuing the fight as the clear,
consistent conservative voice in this race.
To
learn
more
about former Senator Rick Santorum, please visit www.RickSantorum.com.
PRESS RELEASE from
Common Cause
January 19, 2012
To really lead the nation in choosing a
President, Iowans should
clean up their caucus count
The vote counting flip-flop in Iowa’s Republican caucuses is an
embarrassment to the party and the state and a warning that Republicans
and Democrats alike need to tighten up the way they choose their
presidential nominees, Common Cause said today.
“Since Iowa
leaped to the front end of the presidential nominating process in the
1970s, the Hawkeye State’s voters – in both major parties – have shown
an admirable seriousness about their responsibility as the first in the
nation to screen the candidates,” said Common Cause President and CEO
Bob Edgar.
“But in both parties, there’s plenty of room for
improvement in the way that votes are collected and counted,” Edgar
said. “Given the millions of dollars the candidates invest Iowa and the
importance the state has assumed in choosingnominees, Republican and
Democratic leaders alike owe it to Iowans and the nation to run a
transparent process and provide a careful, accurate count.”
As
the reported “winner” of the Jan. 3 GOP caucuses shifted from Mitt
Romney to Rick Santorum, the Des Moines Register reported Thursday that
forms used to relay vote totals from local caucus meetings to state
party headquarters were improperly or incompletely filled out in more
than 100 precincts. In some cases, the forms were returned unsigned by
precinct leaders responsible foractually counting the votes.
Republicans also acknowledged that results from eight precincts simply
disappeared and said there’ll be no effort to recover or count them.
Edgar
said the Iowa GOP’s casual approach to vote collecting and counting in
their caucuses is particularly surprising given the emphasis Republican
lawmakersnationwide have placed on preventing vote fraud in the general
election.
“Republicans seem to favor unreasonable and unnecessary
voter identification requirements in November, when some of the people
showing up at the polls might not be voting Republican, but take an
anything goes approach when it comes to voting inside their party on
prospective presidential nominees,” Edgar said. “It doesn’t add up.”
Common
Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to restoring
the core values of American democracy, reinventing an open, honest, and
accountable government that works for the public interest, and
empowering ordinary people to make their voices heard.
###
Blair FitzGibbon
Vice President,
FITZGIBBON Media, Inc.
