Republican Effort To Dismiss IA-02 Election Contest Fails

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican efforts to leave 22 votes in the Iowa 2nd Congressional District House race uncounted failed a key vote today. The House Administration Committee rejected Republican candidate Marianette Miller-Meeks’s motion to dismiss a petition from Democratic candidate Rita Hart that asked to count 22 legally cast uncounted ballots from November’s election. 

The race for a House seat in the district was extremely close, with Miller-Meeks leading the vote count by only six votes. Hart claims that 22 ballots remain uncounted, which, if included, would put her ahead by nine votes. Under the 1969 Federal Contested Elections Act, Hart contested the results, which then moved to the House Administration Committee that oversees contest election adjudication. 

Today, the committee postponed Miller-Meeks’s motion to dismiss the petition. Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) stated “Today, none of us can state with confidence who won this election. It is our obligation to hear hard evidence.” The contest will continue. 

Read Committee Resolution 117-12 here.

Watch the House Administration Committee’s hearing on the motion to dismiss here.