Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has already made history by being the first non-incumbent Republican to chalk up victories in both the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary, reports The Atlantic. If Mr. Romney wins in the Palmetto State on Saturday, January 21st, the Bain Capital co-founder will only fortify his place in the political history books.
However, Mr. Romney’s place in the history books may be adjusted before he the results of the South Carolina Republican primary are even announced. The Washington Examiner’s Byron York reported Monday that Mr. Romney may find out this week that he did not win the Iowa Caucuses.
“There is a very real chance that the Republican Party of Iowa will announce this week that Rick Santorum, and not Romney, won the Iowa caucuses,” Mr. York wrote.
Although no recount will take place, the results of the Iowa Caucuses must be certified. According to Mr. York, party officials fill out Form E, which contains the official vote count for each Republican candidate in the Iowa Caucuses. After the form is signed, the results are called in to party headquarters.
“As it always does, the process of receiving the results by phone opened up room for error, with the possibility that someone misspoke or misheard the results for a particular caucus,” Mr. York writes.
Mr. York goes on to point out that since the margin of victory was so small for Mr. Romney, Mr. Santorum could be declared the winner of the Iowa Caucuses based on the tiniest mistake being made during the phone calls to party headquarters.
