Minnesota Lottery says it was responsible for delay in $2 billion Powerball drawing

The Minnesota Lottery said Tuesday it was responsible for the nearly half-day delay in the latest Powerball drawing, which eventually yielded a single $2 billion winning ticket.

Once the drawing was conducted Tuesday morning, a Powerball ticket bought in Southern California hit for the record $2.04 billion jackpot after more than three months without anyone matching the numbers for the top prize.

The Multi-State Lottery Association said Monday's drawing scheduled for 9:59 p.m. CST was delayed by nearly 10 hours until Tuesday because a participating lottery had issues processing sales.

While the association declined to identify the lottery participant responsible for the unexpected waiting game, the Minnesota Lottery said its sales verification system caused the processing delay.

"The delay was necessary to confirm the Powerball drawing could be conducted securely and accurately," said Minnesota Lottery spokesperson Marie Hinton. "At no time was the integrity of the process compromised."

Hinton declined to offer specifics about what led to concerns about the security and accuracy of its sales processing.

"We are conducting a thorough review and will not have any additional information to provide until that process is complete," she said. Hinton added that the review's findings will be made public.

The game is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56; the red Powerball was 10. The lucky ticket buyer made the purchase in Altadena, an unincorporated community in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles.

The jackpot was by far the largest lottery jackpot ever won, topping the $1.586 billion prize split among three Powerball ticketholders in 2016.