DNC chair calls for recanvass in Iowa

Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez called for the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) to "immediately begin a recanvass" on Thursday in light of software malfunctions and other issues that have caused a delay in the results from Monday's caucuses.

What they're saying: "Enough is enough," Perez tweeted. "In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results, I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass."

• IDP Chair Troy Price responded in a statement: "While I fully acknowledge that the reporting circumstances on Monday night were unacceptable, we owe it to the thousands of Iowa Democratic volunteers and caucusgoers to remain focused on collecting and reviewing incoming results."
• Price added: "Should any presidential campaign in compliance with the Iowa Delegate Selection Plan request a recanvass, the IDP is prepared."

Perez doubled down on his position during an MSNBC interview Thursday night, stating: "What happened in Iowa was unacceptable."

• "We all care ... That's why it took us longer. Because our North Star was indeed accuracy," he added.

Between the lines: The Washington Post reports that the IDP recently introduced an opportunity for campaigns to request a recanvass "if they are able to show that new figures could alter the allocation of delegates to the national convention." The IDP would have 48 hours to respond to such a request.

• Per DNC rules, a recanvass is "a hand audit of Caucus Math Worksheets and Reporting Forms to ensure that they were tallied and reported in the telephone intake sheets and caucus reporting application correctly."

The big picture: Even after the IDP released results from 97% of precincts, the New York Times found that more than 100 precincts reported results that were "internally inconsistent," "missing data" or "not possible under the complex rules of the Iowa caucuses."

• Current results show that Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders are in a dead heat in the percentage of delegates won at 26.2% and 26.1%, respectively.