DES MOINES, Iowa — Many races in Iowa have been very close, some decided by just hundreds of votes, including Iowa's 1st Congressional District race between Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Christina Bohannan.
About 800 votes separate the two candidates as of Wednesday afternoon, with the Associated Press declining to call the race yet, despite 100% of precincts reporting.
With that close of a race, it's likely a recount will be requested, just like it was in the 2020 election when Miller-Meeks ran against Democrat Rita Hart in the then-2nd Congressional District race. A recount election saw the U.S. representative's 47-vote lead drop to only six votes.
Generally, an election recount will happen due to a close margin of victory, or if there's the possibility of an administrative error, like with tabulating machines.
Before a recount can happen, county officials first have to canvass, or do an official tally, of the local election results of each precinct. Then, a candidate may request an election recount no more than three days after the tally is done, the Iowa Secretary of State's Office told Local 5 News.
There are no automatic recounts in the state of Iowa, so if a candidate requests a recount, state law says that candidate must cover the costs, unless the margin of victory is within 50 votes or 1% of the total number of votes cast. If that's the case, then the state would cover the costs of a recount.
An election recount is done by a board consisting of one representative from each campaign and one neutral member chosen in agreement between the two parties, according to state law.
If the recount changes an election race's outcome, than the candidate is refunded the costs.