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If Rick Santorum won Iowa, why is GOP calling it a 'split decision'?

Rick Santorum got 34 more votes than Mitt Romney but official results will call it a 'split decision,' reports The Des Moines Register.

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(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum campaigning in Keene, N.H. earlier this month.
  • By Reuters

| Washington

The Iowa Republican Party will certify this month's presidential caucuses as a split decision between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, citing missing data from eight precincts, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday.

The party had previously awarded the contest to Romney, with an eight vote margin. The official certified caucus results are due out Thursday at 8:15 a.m. local time (1415 GMT).

The Register said the new count put Santorum ahead by 34 votes. However, results from any one of the eight precincts with "missing data" could hold an advantage for Romney, the Register reported.

RECOMMENDED: The Real Romney: 10 facts about the GOP candidate

"It's a split decision," the newspaper said, citing a party official in the state. There are too many holes in the certified total from the caucuses to know for certain who won, it said.

GOP officials discovered inaccuracies in 131 precincts, although not all the changes affected Romney or Santorum, the newspaper reported.

"The results from Iowa caucus night revealed a virtual tie," Romney said in a statement early Thursday from Boston.

"I would like to thank the Iowa Republican Party for their careful attention to the caucus process, and we once again recognize Rick Santorum for his strong performance in the state.

"The Iowa caucuses, with record turnout, were a great start to defeating President Obama in Iowa and elsewhere in the general election." (Editing by Todd Eastham)

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