Iowa Democratic caucuses turn to chaos

A vote-reporting mess in the Iowa Democratic caucuses means there is so far no winner in the crucial opening contest to find a candidate to take on President Donald Trump in November.

Many hours after the caucuses started with Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden vying for first place, the first results of 1,600 precincts have yet to emerge.

An Iowa Democratic official said results are still being collected. No time estimate was given to campaigns.

The delay seems to have been caused by the state party's new system, which is counting the popular vote from a first round of voting, an updated tally once caucusgoers give their final verdicts and the figures for pledged delegates each candidate eventually wins, CNN reported.

"We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report," Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said.