2nd Congressional District race still in dispute
Hunter
11/30/20
A state canvassing board is expected to meet today to certify Iowa’s general election results, but one race may still be in dispute.
Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks is hanging onto a single-digit lead in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District after a completed recount in a race that will help determine the size of Democrats’ majority in the House of Representatives.
After the lead changed hands initially, the race was too close to call, and Democrat Rita Hart requested a recount in all counties in the district. Miller-Meeks has just six more votes than Hart after the recount wrapped up Saturday in Clinton County, which was the last of the district’s 24 counties to report its results.
Miller-Meeks issued a statement thanking all involved for the recount and claiming victory, while Hart’s campaign indicated that they may file a legal challenge. Campaign manager Zach Meunier accused the Miller-Meeks campaign of trying to keep legitimate votes from being counted. In a statement over the weekend, Meunier added that they will “closely review what the county and state boards do on Monday with an eye toward making sure all Iowa voices are fully and fairly heard.”
One of the major issues with both parties is the recount procedure in Scott County. The Quad City Times reports their recount board adjourned Wednesday without addressing a 131-ballot discrepancy between its count of the absentee ballots received by the county auditor and those included in the county’s certified canvass of election results after Election Day. The Miller-Meeks campaign criticized the count process, which used a high speed scanner but didn’t sort out some 3400 under-votes to check for voter intent like they did with over-votes.
The county Board of Supervisors is set to meet this morning ahead of the state canvassing board to consider approval of the recount, but the Times reports that its unsure what the supervisors will do, given the ballot discrepancy.
