Romney concedes Iowa to Rick Santorum, Recount gave Santorum more votes

Rush Limbaugh just announced that Mitt Romney has conceded Iowa to Rick Santorum after a recount gave Santorum the edge. Earlier the contest had been declared a tie due to some votes being missing.

From ABC News January 19, 2012.

“Rick Santorum collected more caucus votes in Iowa  by the state party’s final count, but we’ll never know who really won.

The Republican Party of Iowa announced Thursday morning that the final, certified count shows Santorum winning by 34 votes. But eight precincts’ results were not available for certification, the party announced, telling the Des Moines Register that it will never be recovered.

The current, incomplete count: 29,839 votes for Santorum and 29,805 for Mitt Romney.

On caucus night, precinct officials phoned in results to an automated system  after they’d counted the votes by hand. As the last precincts reported their votes, the tally swung back and forth into the wee hours of Jan. 4. Since the Iowa Republican Party announced on caucus night that Romney had edged Santorum by a mere eight votes, it has been collecting certified results forms from Iowa’s counties and precincts.

Thursday’s results are final. Santorum will forever hold a lead with incomplete returns.”

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/final-iowa-results-santorum-tops-romney-but-well-never-know-who-won/