DES MOINES, Iowa — Democratic Congressional candidate Rita Hart will be filing a recount in each of the 24 counties in the 2nd Congressional District, citing several errors and irregularities that have come to light since Election Day.
According to a statement from Hart's campaign manager, "Iowans deserve to know categorically that their ballots have been counted."
On Nov. 10, Republican candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks posted on social media, claiming victory. The same day, the Lucas County Auditor announced a recount for the entire county and a hand recount for one precinct after it was discovered results from one precinct were not entered on the night of the election.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race because it is too close to call. According to numbers on the Iowa Secretary of State's website, Miller-Meeks leads Hart by 47 votes as of Thursday morning.
Pate has said for weeks the results on election night are unofficial, meaning they will not be certified until Nov. 30, as required by law.
Here is the timeline of events leading up to this request for an entire district recount:
- Nov. 3: Miller-Meeks was leading Hart by a couple hundred votes. No media outlet in the state called the race.
- Nov. 5: Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott informed Sec. Pate of an irregularity in the numbers out of one of the county's precincts.
- Nov. 6: Pate announced a county-wide recount for Jasper County and a hand recount for the precinct in question.
- Nov. 7: Volunteers for Jasper County completed the machine recount for the county.
- Nov. 9: Volunteers for Jasper County completed the hand recount for one precinct.
- Nov. 10: Pate and the Lucas County Auditor held a news conference, announcing of another error found in one of the precinct's numbers reported on election night. A recount was ordered for Nov. 12.
In Iowa, recounts are not automatically triggered by a threshold of votes separating each candidate. A candidate must contest the results and request a recount.
In this particular case, because there is less than 1% separating Hart and Miller-Meeks, taxpayers will pay for the recount requested by Hart.