Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) isn’t so sure about the results of the Nevada primary.
Based on the current results, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) walked away with roughly 47% of the vote. Former Vice President Joe Biden came in second place with about 20%, and Buttigieg landed in third with about 14% of the Democratic votes in Nevada. He has been the first candidate to raise questions about the results.
The Buttigieg campaign alleges that “irregularities” and “inconsistencies” may have led to the results, as they stand.
In a letter written late Saturday and sent on Sunday, Buttigieg’s national ballot access and delegate director Michael Gaffney called for the state to release the total results of early voting and in-person voting by precinct.
Gaffney also asked that the state party “correct any outstanding second alignment errors identified by presidential campaigns, including ours.”
We're still waiting on the full results from the Nevada Caucus, but here's a first look at our internal numbers from what our team has sent in from the field. https://t.co/Z7OMoRZ4i0
— Team Pete HQ (@wintheera) February 23, 2020
“In light of material irregularities pertaining to the process of integrating early votes into the in-person precinct caucus results, we request that you” release early and in-person votes, correct “errors identified by presidential campaigns” and “explain anomalies in the data,” Gaffney wrote.
Gaffney went on to discuss the close voting percentages to justify the campaign’s requests.
“Given how close the race is between second and third place, we ask that you take these steps before releasing any final data,” he wrote.
Hari Sevugan, Buttigieg’s deputy campaign manager has also cited the “razor-thin margin for second place” as another reason for second place, reports CNN.
“And due to irregularities and a number of unresolved questions we have raised with the Nevada Democratic Party, it’s unclear what the final results will be,” he continued.
While Buttigieg’s campaign knows that a variation in results wouldn’t change much about Sanders’ lead, it could make a major difference where second place is concerned. The campaign also believes this situation could lead to other problems at a later date.
Based on tally sheets reported by PFA precinct captains – in precincts that are greater than 50% POC we are winning 11% of the delegates. Pete was viable in 49% of these precincts.
— Hari Sevugan (@HariSevugan) February 23, 2020
In precincts that that over index on Black voters (NV is ~10% Black– so precincts that are more than 10% Black,) we are winning 11% of delegates. Pete was viable in 48% of these precincts.
— Hari Sevugan (@HariSevugan) February 23, 2020
In precincts that over index on Latino voters (NV is ~27% Latino– so precincts that are more than 27% Latino,) we are winning 9% of delegates. Pete was viable in 52% of these precincts.
— Hari Sevugan (@HariSevugan) February 23, 2020
In the wake of the caucus day controversy, Molly Forgey, communications director for the Nevada State Democratic Party, has responded with details about the results.
“We laid out our early vote and Caucus Day processes step by step and we communicated these processes to all campaigns. We are continuing to verify and to report results,” Forgey told CNN in a statement.
Forgey added, “We never indicated we would release a separate breakdown of early vote and in-person attendees by precinct and will not change our reporting process now. As laid out in our recount guidance, there is a formal method for requesting a challenge of results.”
