Romney stripped of Iowa win after recount

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/222027.html

The Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney has suffered a setback when the party stripped him of his victory in Iowa after a final tally of votes.

His rival, the socially conservative former senator Rick Santorum, emerged with the most votes, a majority of 34.

The party was scheduled to make an official announcement but the Des Moines Register reported its findings hours earlier.

The Register said the party was declaring the vote "unresolved" because there were "too many holes" in the certified totals to know the victor for certain, with the results from some precincts missing.

Romney said on Thursday the new tally showed it was "a virtual tie" between him and Santorum.

But it means that Romney can no longer claim to be the winner in Iowa. If another of his rivals, Newt Gingrich, wins the South Carolina primary on Saturday, this would mean they have one apiece: Romney the New Hampshire primary, held on 10 January, Gingrich South Carolina, and Santorum Iowa from 3 January. The race for the party nomination to take on Barack Obama in November would then be wide open. Guardian