US Democratic race: Pete Buttigieg’s lead confirmed in Iowa

Ex-Mayor Pete Buttigieg is leading the Iowa caucuses with 62 percent of 99 counties reporting, the Iowa Democratic Party said at a briefing Tuesday afternoon.

The result was delayed by a smartphone app malfunction.

Buttigieg earned 26.9 percent of the votes counted, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders with 25.1 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has so far earned 18.3 percent and former Vice President Joe Biden is in fourth place with 15.6 percent.

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price called the delay “unacceptable,” and explained that the party had taken steps to “insure the accuracy” of the results.

Price blamed a “coding error” with the smartphone app adopted this year for the delay in the results, but did not answer questions about when 100 percent of the results would be completed.