Sanders, Buttigieg request targeted recount in Iowa
February 19, 2020
Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg's campaigns have both requested recounts from targeted precincts in this month's Iowa caucuses, according to an announcement from the state Democratic Party late Wednesday.
Sanders' campaign asked the party to recount 10 precincts from Feb. 3's caucuses, the state party said, while Buttigieg's campaign asked for recounts from 54 precincts, with one of the precincts overlapping.
The recounts aren't automatic and will only occur if the requests meet "the required standard of evidence suggesting that caucus errors would change the allocation of one or more" delegates to the national convention this summer in Milwaukee, the state party sent in an unsigned announcement. The party said it will respond within 48 hours.
After a less-intensive recanvass earlier this week, Buttigieg led Sanders by an incredibly narrow margin. He had a lead of .08 state delegate equivalents, according to results posted by the state party — only four thousandths of a percentage point. The initial results, which were delayed for almost a day, were marred by apparent reporting or mathematical errors.
The Sanders' campaign recount request targets 10 precincts, and argues that 1.6845 state delegate equivalents hang in the balance, well over the margin of Buttigieg's lead, according to a list of precincts shared by the state party.
A change in the lead in SDEs could, effectively, flip a national delegate.
The Buttigieg's campaign's request is more expansive, requesting a recount in 54 precincts. At the heart of the Buttigieg recount request, which the campaign said it would withdraw if Sanders' campaign chose not to seek a recount, is that SDEs were incorrectly allocated in satellite caucuses, in which Sanders performed exceptionally well.
"As to the in-state satellite locations, we renew our request that the IDP correct the malapportionment of SDEs to all in-state satellite caucus locations," a letter from the Buttigieg campaign to the Iowa Democratic Party reads. "We therefore respectfully request that the Committee revisit its decision and apportion SDEs in accordance with the [delegate selection plan]."
According to results posted by the state party earlier in the week, Buttigieg was set to be awarded 14 delegates to the national convention, to Sanders' 12 delegates,.
The Iowa caucuses have been marred by chaos since the night of the caucuses over two weeks ago. Troy Price, the state party chair, resigned last week, while the Democratic National Committee has also come under fire.
Source: https://www.politico.com/
