Democrat Congressional Candidate Rita Hart Requesting Full Recount

Democrat congressional candidate Rita Hart is requesting a full recount in all 24 counties that make up Iowa’s Second District.

“With so much at stake in this election and such a slim margin separating the candidates, Iowans deserve to know categorically that their ballots have been accurately counted,” Hart’s campaign manager, Zach Meunier, announced Thursday, according to the Des Moines Register.

“Over the last several days, multiple consequential errors have materialized in this race that have serious implications for the district’s future representation,” he added.

Hart’s campaign will file requests for recounts at county auditor’s offices across the district by close of business on Friday, the deadline to file a recount request.

Iowa’s counties had to certify their vote totals by Tuesday, and Iowa law gives candidates until 5 p.m. on the third day after the county canvass to ask for a recount.

Iowa Code gives counties 18 days after vote canvassing to conduct the recount.

Hart is in a tight race with her challenger, Republican state Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. According to the Iowa secretary of state’s office, Miller-Meeks is ahead by 47 votes as of Thursday afternoon, out of 394,383 votes cast.

Miller-Meeks has declared victory, but Hart has not conceded the race. The Associated Press has not called the race.

The lead between the two candidates has gone back and forth as two counties found errors in their reported results.

In Jasper County, a data error initially showed Miller-Meeks getting more than 300 extra votes. County officials conducted a machine recount and one hand recount in one precinct to correct the error.

In Lucas County, elections officials mistakenly reported pre-election test results instead of the final elections results in one precinct. That county will do a machine recount on Thursday and a hand recount on Friday.