Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, was declared the winner of the Iowa Straw Poll, with 4,516 votes, or 31.5 percent.

At second place, Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, drew in 18.1 percent with 2,587 votes. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., rounded out third place with 2,192 votes, 15.3 percent.

There were 14,302 votes total places throughout the day.

Results of the Republican Iowa Straw Poll were announced at approximately 8:15 p.m., an hour and 15 minutes past the projected time.

Dan Nicholson, member of the State Central Committee, explained the voting process for the Iowa Straw Poll.

Each person must present a valid identification and a ticket for the Straw Poll.

The tickets and ID are then scanned and each individual is given a ballot.

Then each person’s thumb is inked, which lasts for at least a week, Nicholson said.

The individual then proceeds to the voting area, which has voting booths.

Once the person has voted, he or she puts it into the counting machine and the voting process is complete.

There had been some concern about the method of the ballots being counted. However, Nicholson said the machines were the same used by Story County.

“There is a paper trail, we do have the ballots,” Nicholson said.

Many supporters voted because they want to assure their candidate will continue on in the race.

“The straw poll’s importance is because it will separate candidates,” said Zachariah Gordon, of Urbandale.

Gordon said the straw poll is also focused on money. He said that the better you do the more money a candidate can make.

Gordon said he voted for and works for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.

“It’s all for money and hopefully this will help push Brownback forward,” he said. “He doesn’t have any TV ads. This has always been a grassroots campaign.”

Gordon said one of the big reasons he support Brownback is because of his stand for life and family.

Susan Fulster, lab technician for the Veterinary Medicine and Production Animal Medicine, said she supported Mitt Romney, but still enjoyed seeing the candidates in one place.

“I like to hear all of them all at once,” she said. “All the candidates did a great job.”

Fulster said she has been a supporter for several months.

“I like his views and business manner,” she said. “He wants to make it so we don’t spend foolishly,” she said.

Social issues outside the public eye still had representation from individual voters.

Stanley Moberg Sr., of Conrad, was dressed in Uncle Sam garb and also sported a sandwich board decrying the National ID Act.

“I believe it will become a big issue,” Moberg said.

Moberg said the National ID Act could be implemented as early as May 2008, and would require all U.S. citizens to register under a nationwide, government-run program.

“To me, this is an invasion of privacy,” Moberg said. “You can’t have a bank account without it, you can’t board an airplane. There’s just so many things you can’t do without it.”

He said the act is reminiscent of a prophecy found in the Bible, which refers to a “mark of the Beast.”

Moberg said he voted for Tancredo.

“He dealt with the issues and satisfactorily convinced me that he knows how to deal with this,” Moberg said.