Hmmmm, Typo Hypothesis Claims Santorum Actually Won in Iowa?

Did Mitt Romney accidentally get 20 extra votes because of a typo made in Appanoose County?

Ed True, a 28-year-old caucus goer in the town of Moulton, Iowa, says that he was at the caucus and on his notes Romney only got two votes in his precinct. Yet when he checked reported totals later it showed that Romney got 22 votes! He thinks it was a typo. Someone accidentally entered “22″ when they meant to type only one “2.” The Iowa GOP says that Mr. True is not a party official and it will stand by its numbers as the full, final counting is underway. The certified count won’t be official for a week or two. Still, it really won’t matter a whole lot. Whether Santorum lost by eight votes or won by ten or twelve is not really that relevant. The result is so close that it is nearly the same in delegate counts and what not.

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.”

Nate Silver of the New York Times thinks the typo hypothesis shouldn’t be rejected out of hand. Silver said on Twitter that Romney did poorly in many of the other Appanoose County Districts, so the idea that there was a typo is “credible.” Other coverage Mental Recession. (H/T HotAir)

Warner Todd Huston——Bio and Archives

Warner Todd Huston’s thoughtful commentary, sometimes irreverent often historically based, is featured on many websites such as Breitbart.com, among many, many others. He has also written for several history magazines, has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows.

He is also the owner and operator of Publius’ Forum.