Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders in a near tie, with 100% of results published — updates

We will update this article throughout the day with details on the Iowa Democratic caucus results.

With 100% of precincts reported, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are in a near tie in state delegates in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, according to the Iowa Democratic Party.

The complete results, which were long-delayed after Monday's caucuses, show Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, with 26.198% of delegate equivalents and Bernie Sanders with 26.128%, late Thursday evening.

The head of the national Democratic Party has already demanded the results be recanvassed. That demand, plus potential errors in the count, mean that the results may not be final and will likely be disputed.

After the final results were published by the part Thursday, the Associated Press again said it was unable to declare a winner, saying in an advisory, "there is evidence the party has not accurately tabulated some of its results, including those released late Thursday that the party reported as complete.

AP says it is unable to declare a winner in the Iowa Democratic caucuses

The Associated Press on Thursday evening announced it is unable to declare a winner in the Iowa Democratic caucuses.

“The Associated Press calls a race when there is a clear indication of a winner. Because of a tight margin between former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders and the irregularities in this year’s caucus process, it is not possible to determine a winner at this point," said Sally Buzbee, AP’s senior vice president and executive editor.

An advisory from the Associated Press went on to say "AP will continue to report and review the results from the Iowa Democratic Party as the party completes its tabulation, as well as the results of any potential recanvass or recount." Many news organizations rely on the Associated Press to analyze voting data to determine election winners.

Just hours before AP’s decision, Sanders declared himself the winner during a press conference in New Hampshire at his campaign headquarters.

"That screw-up has been extremely unfair to the people of Iowa, it has been unfair to all of the candidates and all of their supporters,” Sanders told reporters. “So what I want to do, three days late, is thank the people of Iowa for the very strong victory they gave us Monday night.”

With nearly 97% precincts reporting, Sanders and Buttigieg are separated by less than one percentage point in the state delegate equivalent count, the number traditionally used to determine the winner of the caucuses. But Sanders continues to lead in raw vote totals, which he has since results started coming in Tuesday.

- Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY

Perez calls for recanvass of caucus

DES MOINES The top official of the Democratic Party said on Thursday that he wants the Iowa Democratic Party to recanvass results of its caucus results following extensive delays in reporting results and inaccurate information being released.

Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee, made the request publicly on Twitter.

"Enough is enough. 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," Perez tweeted.

The tweet is in response to delayed reporting of caucus results. The results have slowly trickled in. On Wednesday. the Iowa Democratic Party said it had reported inaccurate information.

Perez followed his tweet with another saying, "A recanvass is a review of the worksheets from each caucus site to ensure accuracy. The IDP will continue to report results."

According to a 21-page caucus recanvass and recount manual the Iowa Democratic Party prepared before Monday's caucus began, presidential campaigns can request a recanvass of results by sending Iowa party chair Troy Price a letter by noon Friday.

The manual does not say explicitly say that a DNC chair can request a recanvass — it only lists presidential campaigns as possible requesters.

"Requests must present credible evidence suggesting that results were misreported or erroneously counted," the manual said.

A committee will validate the requests, according to the manual, and include the cost "assessed to the candidate in order to complete the recanvass."

The manual says that the recanvass will occur in a space procured by the Iowa Democratic Party and that "the recanvass room will be open to campaign staff observers."

The recanvass will include an examination of caucus math worksheets and presidential preference cards and "inconsistencies are declared if results on official precinct or satellite forms are different from the results reported through the caucus reporting tool or by telephone," the manual said.

— Barbara Rodriguez, Des Moines Register

Sanders declares victory in Iowa

Pointing to the initial popular vote totals in Monday’s caucuses, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., declared victory in the nation’s first presidential preference contest, even as Iowa’s Democratic Party has yet to officially declare a winner.

“It has been unfair to the candidates, all of the candidates, and all of their supporters,” Sanders said of the days-long delay in getting complete results during a press conference in Manchester, New Hampshire Thursday.

“So what I want to do today,” Sanders continued, “is to thank the people of Iowa for the very strong victory they gave us.”

Sanders pointed out that with 97% of precincts reporting, his campaign is leading by some 6,000 votes in the popular vote tally from the initial alignment at the caucuses.

“In other words, some 6,000 more Iowans came out on Monday night to support our candidacy than the candidacy of anyone else,” Sanders said, adding “we here in northern New England call that a victory.”

Based on current partial results, former mayor Pete Buttigieg leads by just 3 state delegate equivalents, which correlate eventually with national pledged delegates, the metric used to declare a winner in previous caucuses. And Sanders and Buttigieg are currently tied in the national delegate tally.

According to another metric released by the Iowa Democratic Party, Sanders leads by more than 2,000 in the raw vote total tied to the final caucus alignment — a metric being released publicly for the first time this year in response to criticism after the 2016 caucuses when Sanders narrowly lost in Iowa to Hillary Clinton.

— Martina Stewart and Joey Garrison

Buttigieg responds to Iowa woman who pulled her support after learning he's gay

Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg knows that some people won't vote for him because he's gay, including the Iowa woman captured on video withdrawing her support for Buttigieg after learning that he's married to a man.

“What I want her to know is that I’m running to be her president too," Buttigieg said Thursday, when asked, during an appearance on ABC's The View, about the widely-viewed video.

The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor added that he wishes the woman could see that "my love is the same as her love for those that she cares about."

"But if she can’t see that...I am still, if I’m elected president, going to get up in the morning and try to make the best decisions for her and the people that she loves," he said.

The video, shot at an Iowa precinct Monday, shows a woman who had turned in her caucus card for Buttigieg saying she had no idea he's gay.

“I don’t want anybody like that in the White House,” she said. “So can I have my card back?”

The precinct captain responded that she respects the other woman’s view but suggested the caucusgoer dig deep inside and ask if Buttigieg’s sexuality really matters.

"He better read the Bible," the woman said.

Since launching his longshot campaign for the Democratic nomination, Buttigieg's standard response to the question of whether the nation is ready to elect a gay president has been: "There's only one way to find out."

Although the results in Iowa are still being tabulated, Buttigieg is locked in a very close battle with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for the win.

— Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY

After three days, still no winner declared

DES MOINES — The sun rises on the third day with no winner in the Iowa Democratic caucuses.

How is that possible? A faulty app. A clogged backup phone line. And three times the results than any prior caucus.

The standings in the race have tightened considerably as results dribbled in over the course of two days: Former mayor Pete Buttigieg leads by just 3 state delegate equivalents, which correlate with national pledged delegates, the metric used to declare a winner in previous caucuses.

But Sen. Bernie Sanders leads by more than 2,000 in the raw vote total tied to the final caucus alignment — a metric being released publicly for the first time this year in response to criticism after the 2016 caucus. Sanders lost that year by less than 1 percentage point to Hillary Clinton.

Trailing Buttigieg and Sanders are Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. There is still roughly 3 percent of precincts left to report their results; today just might be the day we find out the official winner.

Check back for updates.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa caucus results: Buttigieg, Sanders in near tie