Just before 1 a.m. Mountain time Wednesday, the chairman of the Iowa Republican Party went on television to announce the official result: Mitt Romney had beaten Rick Santorum by just eight votes out of 60,022 cast for the two men.
So why no recount? There is no legal provision for one, and, in fact, no legal need. The Iowa caucus, despite its position at the center of the political universe every four years, is simply a nonbinding preference poll that does not legally determine which candidate wins all of the state’s delegates to the Republican nominating convention.
Instead, the caucus results serve as a guide for the state’s Republicans as they hold local and state conventions during the coming year to elect their convention delegates. They can (and do) use the caucus as a guide, but they are not bound to do so. The New York Times
