DES MOINES, Iowa -- Caucus night was chaotic in many places, with hundreds of voters, candidates showing up and the throngs of media who followed. The world's eyes were on Iowa. But in the quiet town of Moulton, Appanoose County, a caucus of 53 people may just blow up the results. Edward True, 28, of Moulton, said he helped count the votes and jotted the results down on a piece of paper to post to his Facebook page. He said when he checked to make sure the Republican Party of Iowa got the count right, he said he was shocked to find they hadn't.
"When Mitt Romney won Iowa by eight votes and I've got a 20-vote discrepancy here, that right there says Rick Santorum won Iowa," True said. "Not Mitt Romney."
True said at his 53-person caucus at the Garrett Memorial Library, Romney received two votes. According to the Iowa Republican Party's website, True's precinct cast 22 votes for Romney.
"This is huge," True said. "It essentially changes who won."
A spokeswoman with the Iowa Republican Party said True is not a precinct captain and he's not a county chairperson so he has no business talking about election results. She also said the party would not be giving interviews about possible discrepancies until the caucus vote is certified.
KCCI political analyst Dennis Goldford said even if the caucus results are wrong, it's not the end of the world.
This will make Iowa look a little foolish in the eyes of the rest of the country, which already questions the seriousness of the caucuses," Goldford said. But in terms of Santorum's results here, the Caucuses have made him a player in presidential politics and if he should nudge ahead of Gov. Romney for the final certified result that's really not going to make any significant difference at this point."
True -- who said he's a Ron Paul supporter -- hopes it was a simple mistake.
"I imagine it's a good possibility that somebody instead of hitting 2 might have hit 22 by accident," True said. "I hope so."
But he said he won't stop talking about it until the state -- by his count -- gets the numbers right.
"Numbers that I personally witnessed being counted and assisted in counting and am certain are right," he said.
Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said late Thursday that the party headquarters spoke with Appanoose County Republican officials and they do not have any reason to believe the final, certified results of the county will change the outcome of Tuesday's vote.
Reached a short time later, True said he is absolutely certain his numbers are correct and he stands by his statement. True said he confirmed his numbers with his precinct captain and his county party chairman.
KCCI left a message for the Appanoose Republican party chairman on Thursday afternoon. The call has yet to be returned.
True reiterated Thursday night that he is 100-percent certain that his figures from that night were correct. He said he has checked with his precinct chairman and the GOP county chairman and they confirmed his numbers.
KCCI has not had a chance to confirm his statement with those county party officials.
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