Iowa voter asks to change vote after learning Pete Buttigieg is gay

A video of an Iowa caucus voter asking to change her vote after finding out Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has surfaced following the confusing and frustrating Monday night electoral event.

Tuesday afternoon, Laura Hubka, the Howard County Democratic Party Chairwoman, shared the video on Twitter, calling the caucus captain Nikki Heever who responds to the woman a “wonderful example of Cresco [Iowa].”

In the video, the voter shows shock when she learns that Mr Buttigieg is a gay man with a husband and then asks if she can take her vote back.

“Are you kidding? Then I don’t want anybody like that in the White House. So can I have my card back?” the woman asked.

Ms Heever doesn’t immediately refund the woman’s vote and instead attempts to convince her that Mr Buttigieg’s sexual orientation shouldn’t invalidate his viability as a candidate.

“The whole point of it though, he’s a human being, right, just like you and me. It shouldn’t really matter,” Ms Heever replied.

“Well he better read the Bible,” the voter said.

Ms Heever goes on to explain that Mr Buttigieg is also a Christian and continued to try to convince the voter that she should support him.

“I would like you to just dig deep inside and think, should it matter if it’s a woman or if it’s a man or if they’re heterosexual or homosexual, if you believe in what they say? That’s my question to you.”

The voter wasn’t moved.

“It all just went right down the toilet, is where it went,” she said.

As the exchange continues, Ms Heever says that she’ll get clarification on the rules for rescinding a vote, but tries one last argument, appealing to her own Christian faith to try to convince the voter.

Unfortunately for Ms Heever, the woman shrugs the argument off, instead suggesting that Ms Heever’s acceptance of Mr Buttigieg means she must not believe in what the Bible says. The voter asks why Mr Buttigieg’s sexual orientation wasn’t more widely known, which Ms Heever correctly points out is “common knowledge.”

The events leading up to the confrontation and the events immediately after – including whether or not the woman’s vote was refunded – are still unclear.

The video is holding Democrats over as they wait for the results of Monday night’s caucus. Issues with a third-party voting app were cited by state party officials as the primary factor holding up the official results.

Mr Buttigieg came under some fire Tuesday after choosing to give a speech that seemed to declare his victory in Iowa despite there being no announcement by the state party of a winner. “#MayorCheat” and “#PetetheCheat” were trending on Twitter, along with rat emojis.

In an interview with MSNBC today, Mr Buttigieg walked back the soaring language from his speech on Tuesday, instead referring to the caucus as a “clear victory for this campaign” rather than an overall victory.

The Iowa Democratic Party said it should have the results available by late Tuesday afternoon.