GOP chief: Caucus count to go all night

The ballot count in the Republican presidential caucus in Nevada was expected to take all night, according to the county GOP official in charge of the process in Las Vegas.

Clark County GOP vice chairman Woody Stroupe told The Associated Press late Saturday that party officials were recounting every ballot cast in Nevada's most populous county to ensure the accuracy of the tally.

Complete results would not be made public until every vote was counted, he said, though some 400 votes from 30 out of a total of 1,073 precincts were posted by the party.

"We're probably going to be going all night," Stroupe said.

Stroupe said it took his five teams of two officials each four hours to count ballots from eight of 40 caucus sites. But he said the process was getting quicker as they continued.

"I think we're going to be done by sunrise," Stroupe said.

Stroupe said the recount wasn't because of a challenge, but was party procedure.

Mitt Romney topped the Nevada caucus. With about 43 percent of the votes counted, Romney led with 42 percent. Newt Gingrich had 26 percent, Ron Paul was third with 18 percent and Rick Santorum had 13 percent.

Representatives from each candidate's campaign were in the room as observers, but media was not allowed, Stroupe said.

James Smack, a Nevada state GOP party executive in Reno, said secondary counts were allowed by party rules, and were being done Saturday in all 17 of Nevada's counties.

He noted that Clark County is the most populous county in the state, with about 60 percent of Nevada's active GOP voters.