Posted on 12/10/2022 10:19:24 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Amid speculation over election processes in key states, midterm elections in Iowa came down to a hand recount between candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. After election night, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate announced that there would be a hand recount in Scott County, House District 81.
In four tabulations of the ballots, including the hand count of the ballots that Thursday and a machine count on the next day, Friday, the tabulation totals matched and every ballot was accounted for in a fast and agreed upon resolution.
“Accuracy is the most important factor in elections, and we want to make sure the results are correct before they are certified,” Secretary Pate said then. “The checks and balances we have in place caught the error and I extend my thanks to Scott County for fixing it in a transparent, bipartisan manner. The integrity of Iowa’s elections is once again upheld.”
According to the Des Moines Register, Republican Luana Stoltenberg won the election to House District 81 after receiving 5,073 votes to 5,062 for Democrat Craig Cooper, an 11-vote margin of victory. The win was certified by a three-member board, the outlet reported.
“Thank you so much to everyone in District 81 for the honor of representing you in the Iowa House!” Stoltenberg noted in a Thursday Facebook post. “I want to hear what is important to you and how I can serve you these next couple years.”
Cooper conceded to Stoltenberg and accepted the results of the second recount, but he did voice some concerns about the process, the Des Moines outlet noted. “A year of campaigning, walking many miles of neighborhoods and meeting residents, can be exhausting and oddly lonely but I don’t regret the experience,” Cooper noted, according to the paper, which added:
Cooper said he has “grave concerns” that the Scott County auditor’s initial recount differed significantly from the second recount, which was conducted by a three-member board selected by the candidates. Cooper chose former Scott County Attorney Bill Davis, a Democrat, to sit on the board. Stoltenberg chose former Scott County Supervisor Diane Holst, a Republican. They agreed on the third member, former Democratic Scott County Supervisor Jim Hancock.
That initial recount, which concluded Nov. 18, showed Cooper leading by six votes. Both candidates also had more votes in the auditor’s count — Cooper had 31 additional votes, and Stoltenberg had 14.
“Thirty-one votes I was given in one count disappeared entirely later and made a difference in the outcome,” he noted on his campaign’s Facebook page.
Scott County Auditor Kerri Tompkins noted that the three-member board conducted a hand and a machine recount of the ballots, noting that the machine recount was “very similar” to an auditor’s recount and that it confirmed the total number of ballots in the race. Although the numbers changed “a little bit,” Tompkins said that the board’s machine recount found that Cooper was the winner.
But she noted that the board went on to conduct a hand count of the ballots, employing a different process than the one used by the auditor in the first recount. And that hand count gave Stoltenberg the lead. The board went on to choose the hand recount as the official result.
“The duty rests on the recount board to determine what information they are going to place in their report,” Tompkins said, according to the paper. “So they can choose which results they want to go with.”
Kevin Hall, spokesperson for the Iowa Secretary of State, said on Friday, “The bipartisan recount board members, which include two Democrats and one Republican, have publicly stated they are confident in the results of their recount and we thank them for their efforts.”
“The Quad City Times reported Wednesday that the board’s discrepancy came from absentee ballots. The board used an elections machine and checked totals by hand, and ultimately found 45 fewer absentee ballots in the district than the auditor reported,” the Des Moines Register noted.
Nationally, Republicans managed to take control of the House but failed to make any gains in the Senate, even losing a seat in a midterm election cycle when normally, the party of out power in the White House does significantly better, Conservative Brief noted.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is the odds-on favorite to succeed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), though his victory is not yet assured as he faces a challenge from some members of the conservative Freedom Caucus. The existence of the Freedom Caucus is inspiring a return to constitutional values and recognition of the tenants in the U.S. Constitution.
Implying a unison of thought among Republicans, McCarthy stated last month, “On the very first day of the new Republican-led Congress, we will read every single word of the Constitution aloud from the floor of the House—something that hasn’t been done in years,” noting that this action would be reviving a tradition.
“By committing election fraud, the right to life is forfeit”
I agree completely.
A couple of vote fraudsters paying the ultimate penalty would go a log way towards discouraging the practice.
There's nothing comical about it. At face value I am happy that this woman won. That said, we live during a time when vigilance is an absolute necessity.
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