(Bloomberg) -- The Des Moines Register and CNN canceled the release of their much-awaited final poll before the Iowa caucuses after Pete Buttigieg’s campaign raised concern about how it was conducted.

The poll, long considered the gold standard in Iowa, was shelved just minutes before CNN was set to host a special hour of TV on Saturday night dedicated to the poll results and the state of the race in Iowa.

An Iowa City man reported to Buttigieg’s team on Thursday that the poll-taker who called him didn’t name “Pete Buttigieg” in the list of candidates, and told him her computer was glitching. When she repeated the question on candidate preference, she mispronounced Buttigieg’s name, the voter said, according to a senior campaign official.

The voter who experienced the issue declined to comment to Bloomberg News on Saturday night.

“A respondent raised an issue with the way their interview was conducted, which could have compromised the results of the poll,” CNN said in a statement. “We were unable to ascertain what happened during this respondent’s interview, and cannot determine if this was a single isolated incident.”

The survey was conducted by Selzer & Co., a respected Iowa pollster.

“CNN, The Des Moines Register and Selzer & Company aim to uphold the highest standards of survey research, and therefore the partners decided not to proceed,” the statement said.

Responding to the decision, Buttigieg campaign senior adviser Lis Smith said in a tweet, “We applaud CNN and the Des Moines Register for their integrity.”

Bernie Sanders’ spokesman said on Twitter that the race remains very close.

“Let me break the suspense: It’s a very tight race,” Faiz Shakir, Sanders’ campaign manager, wrote. “And any of a number of candidates could win. So let’s work hard to turn people out.”

Closely Watched

The final Iowa Poll, released just days before the caucuses, is closely watched because it can give a boost to the leading candidate or demoralize supporters of one who falls short. The problem with the poll was first reported by the New York Times.

Story continues

The Register/CNN poll has marked the changing fortunes of the top candidates over the past year: Joe Biden led in early 2019, Elizabeth Warren took the lead in September, Buttigieg led in November and Sanders was in the top spot in early January.

In the final days before Monday night’s caucuses, candidates have crisscrossed the state, making their final pitches to voters. But until Saturday Buttigieg and Biden had had much of the state to themselves as Sanders, Warren and Amy Klobuchar were in Washington for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

Now, with the senators back on the trail, the race has kicked into its final stage. Sanders hosted a massive rally in Cedar Rapids with Vampire Weekend on Saturday night. Buttigieg flew around the state hosting rallies, and Biden has been on a week-long bus tour.

For Buttigieg, Warren and Klobuchar, the Iowa caucus results could make or break their campaigns. Each of them are banking on strong performances in the state to catapult them forward through the primary season. Biden and Sanders, meanwhile, still far outpace their rivals in national polls.

(DISCLAIMER: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic nomination for president. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

(Updates with new details on incident starting in third paragraph)

--With assistance from Ryan Teague Beckwith.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Des Moines at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Tyler Pager in Des Moines at tpager1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan Crane, Larry Liebert

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