Two days after the polls closed in Missouri Tuesday night, there still aren't any official winners in either the Democratic or Republican presidential primary. And, Politico reports, it's not because all of the votes haven't already been counted:
That’s because both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump lead their respective primaries by just 0.2 percentage point — within the 0.5 point threshold for a recount under Missouri election law."The margin of victory in the Missouri presidential primaries is less than one-half of one percent, which qualifies them for a recount in Missouri," said AP political editor David Scott in a statement provided to Politico. "Neither the Sanders nor Cruz campaigns have said if they plan to challenge the results, as is their right under Missouri law. As such, both races remain too close to call." [Politico]
Sanders' campaign says it is not yet at the point of making a final decision on whether to ask for a recount, though Sanders' chief strategist Tad Devine has said that "the difference could be a delegate in the end so it's not something that we feel a great urgency about."
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Cruz has yet to say whether he's looking into a recount, though the stakes are higher in the Republican primary. Although Missouri is not a winner-take-all state, nine of the delegates go to the statewide winner regardless of the winning margin.
Both Cruz and Sanders have some time to make up their minds, though: Missouri law stipulates that recounts cannot be requested until four weeks after the election, so it might be at least April 15 until we find out who won the state.
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