--- title: Iowa Democratic Caucuses Used Coin Tosses to Find a Winner description: Several of Iowa's Democratic precincts used a coin toss to determine a winner, illustrating the historically close Democratic matchup canonical: https://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-02T15:23:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:49.980Z article:section: Politics og:title: Some Iowa Precincts Flipped a Coin to Determine Democratic Winner og:description: Hillary Clinton won the coin toss in each instance og:url: https://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41bac639d4a8289f/69887bbcab6d7715066a83c3/bernie-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Holds Iowa Caucus Night Gathering og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Some Iowa Precincts Flipped a Coin to Determine Democratic Winner twitter:description: Hillary Clinton won the coin toss in each instance twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41bac639d4a8289f/69887bbcab6d7715066a83c3/bernie-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Some Iowa Caucus Precincts Flipped a Coin to Determine the Democratic Winner > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 2, 2016 3:23 PM UTC  Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters during a caucus night party Feb. 1, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters during a caucus night party Feb. 1, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 2, 2016 3:23 PM UTC Several of Iowa’s Democratic precincts [flipped a coin to determine a winner](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/02/sometimes-iowa-democrats-award-caucus-delegates-coin-flip/79680342/) on Monday, illustrating the complicated nature of caucus rules and the historically close matchup between Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Clinton was [named the Democratic winner of the Iowa caucuses](http://time.com/4203862/iowa-caucuses-hillary-clinton-win/) on Tuesday morning, winning 49.9% of the vote compared to Sanders’ 49.6%. At least five coin tosses were held at precincts across the state on Monday, and in each instance, Clinton won, according to the [Des Moines _Register_](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/02/sometimes-iowa-democrats-award-caucus-delegates-coin-flip/79680342/).  Iowa Caucus results 2016 A coin toss is required to break a tie in certain instances, according to caucus rules. “In a case where two or more preference groups are tied for the loss of a delegate, a coin shall be tossed to determine who loses the delegate,” the [Iowa caucus guide](https://twitter.com/FernandoPeinado/status/694353227274330113/photo/1?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) states. > [](https://twitter.com/FernandoPeinado/status/694345745420320768) > [](https://twitter.com/SageRosenfels18/status/694395728995622912) > [](https://twitter.com/andytadlock/status/694340486908088320) > [](https://twitter.com/tripgabriel/status/694375261513469952) > [](https://twitter.com/JLaBua/status/694383966233587712) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/"},"headline":"Some Iowa Caucus Precincts Flipped a Coin to Determine the Democratic Winner","datePublished":"2016-02-02T15:23:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:43:49.980Z","description":"Hillary Clinton won the coin toss in each instance","url":"https://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41bac639d4a8289f/69887bbcab6d7715066a83c3/bernie-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41bac639d4a8289f/69887bbcab6d7715066a83c3/bernie-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Holds Iowa Caucus Night Gathering","caption":"Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Holds Iowa Caucus Night Gathering","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","name":"Some Iowa Caucus Precincts Flipped a Coin to Determine the Democratic Winner"}}]}] ```