Updated 3:19 p.m. ET

Rick Santorum claimed victory in the Iowa caucuses, after the certified vote count released this morning showed him with a 34-vote edge over Mitt Romney.

But votes missing from eight precincts means it is impossible to know who really won the political event that every four years kicks off the presidential nominating season.

"Just as I did on the early morning hours on Jan. 4, I congratulate Sen. Santorum and Gov. Romney on a hard-fought effort during the closest contest in caucus history," Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said in a statement, which did not declare a winner.

The Iowa Republican Party this morning posted the certified results from the Jan. 3 vote, which were first reported by the Des Moines Register.

Romney called Santorum this morning to concede the Iowa caucuses, The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed Santorum spokesman.

The outcome means Romney can no longer be considered the first non-incumbent Republican to win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary -- but it doesn't change the big-picture narrative of the GOP primary. Romney is leading in national polls on the GOP nomination, but his lead in South Carolina has tightened.

While Santorum is declaring himself the winner in Iowa, political observers say the loser could be the Iowa caucuses.

"This underscores the amateur and volunteer nature of the way the caucuses are run," said Dennis Goldford, a political scientist at Drake University in Des Moines.

"Amateur can be fine but amateurism is something else," he said in a telephone interview with USA TODAY. "The caucuses are bearing a weight that they were never designed to do. This does furnish additional ammunition to those who criticize the impact of the caucuses."

Steffen Schmidt, a political scientist at Iowa State University, said the caucuses are "mostly a media event."

"No delegates are selected," he told USA TODAY in an e-mail. "It's like a very extensive public opinion poll. Yet, we give it huge significance because it is the first event. The probability that Rick Santorum won and not Mitt Romney made no real difference because Romney was the untouchable front-runner in New Hampshire already."

Romney seemed braced for the news, issuing a news release this morning. "The results from Iowa caucus night revealed a virtual tie," he said.

In a news release, Santorum's campaign said the certified results in Iowa should end the notion that Romney cannot be defeated for the GOP nomination.

"We've had two early state contests with two winners - and the narrative that Governor Romney and the media have been touting of 'inevitability' has been destroyed," said Hogan Gidley, Santorum's communications director.

"Conservatives can now see and believe they don't have to settle for Romney, the establishment's moderate candidate," Gidley said. "There is a consistent conservative alternative ... and that candidate is Rick Santorum."