Coin toss gives Amy Klobuchar the edge over Elizabeth Warren at one Iowa caucus site

DES MOINES — When an Iowa caucus delegate count gets too close to call — get a coin.

That's what apparently happened at a rural precinct in Iowa Falls on Monday evening during a tight caucus count between Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren.

Sixty-two people were in attendance, according to Sara Baranowski, editor of the Iowa Falls Times-Citizen. The viability threshold to obtain delegates in that location was 10.

Klobuchar of Minnesota took an early lead with 19 supporters as her rivals struggled to keep pace. But Warren of Massachusetts was able collect 19 supporters of her own.

Each senator having 19 supporters equals four delegates apiece but there is a 12-delegate cap on the number available at the site. Since there were other candidates who had hit the viability threshold, the winning delegate has to be awarded via a coin toss, according to party rules.

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Klobuchar won the coin toss to win four delegates while Warren got three, along with former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg despite him having five fewer supporters. Former Vice President Joe Biden earned the remaining two.

The Iowa Falls Times-Citizen posted photos of the coin toss here.

This isn't the first time and caucus goers are familiar with this when in 2016 candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton used coin flips to decide many delegates.

In that race the two almost tied with Clinton barely edging out Sanders by less than one percentage point.

Using a coin toss might be alarming to outsiders but of the roughly 4,000 national delegates in the Democratic primary, Iowa represents 41 delegates total. It appears only a handful of the state delegate equivalents are being awarded by the flip of a coin.

Reach Phillip M. Bailey at pbailey@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4475. Follow him on Twitter at @phillipmbailey.