OFFICIAL NH RESULTS: Santorum Edges Gingrich for 4th

01/30/2012 For a few weeks now we have posted results and updates here indicating that in the 2012 New Hampshire Republican Primary, Rick Santorum finished in fourth place ahead of Newt Gingrich in the January 10, 2012 primary. As new results have emerged, we have updated the numbers.

The official summary results, which are posted here by the New Hampshire Secretary of State, were technically unofficial until very recently, as minor corrections were still being received from several precincts in the state.

However, per a confirmation email we have received from the New Hampshire Secretary of State's Office, the results are now final.

Rick Santorum finished that first primary with 23,432 votes in fourth place, while Newt Gingrich received 23,421 votes to finish in fifth.

Updates from major news outlets, including the last one (January 11, 2012) on the interactive post by CBS News, and the latest (January 19th) post update from CNN, however, each continue to report erroneous numbers, suggesting that the result put Gingrich ahead of Santorum in that state's contest.

Their numbers are both wrong, as are the numbers still posted at MSNBC, and at Fox News as well. AP also has incorrect numbers posted, which come up as the source when "Googling" the "2012 New Hampshire Republican primary results."

The victor in the "first in the nation" primary, of course, was Mitt Romney, who officially received 97,591, followed by Ron Paul with 56,872, and Jon Huntsman who got 41,964 votes.

This is the second instance this year of official results changing the order of outcome in a statewide contest. And each time, former US Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) has been the beneficiary of those ultimate corrections in the vote counts.

The result of recounted numbers from the Iowa caucuses showed that the official numbers would actually never be known because results from about eight precincts were lost or untabulated.

But Santorum has since been officially declared the victor in the contest in a squeaker, based on the available numbers -- by 34 votes. That Iowa change garnered national attention, and was widely reported in the last few days of the run-up to the South Carolina primary.

The change in the New Hampshire results, however, has received little or no attention, and, as noted, continues to be misreported by major news outlets.

The official percentage results were 9.430% for Santorum and 9.426% for Gingrich. Romney garnered 39.28% of the vote, Paul received 22.89% and Huntsman received 16.89% of the vote.

The remaining vote was split amongst several contestants, including Rich Perry (1,764), Buddy Roemer (950) and Michelle Bachmann (350), with each of the several candidates receiving less than 1% of the vote apiece.