Recount drama in US House race as Iowa candidates near a tie

By RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press Nov 25, 2020 Updated 6 min ago

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The historically close race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District seat could be approaching a tie.

Democrat Rita Hart on Wednesday cut Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ lead to nine votes out of more than 394,400 cast, with recount boards in all but two of the district’s 24 counties reporting their results.

The race is the closest in the nation and could tighten even further ahead of Monday’s certification deadline. A single-digit victory for either candidate is possible as is a tie, which according to state law would result in a winner’s name being drawn from a hat, bowl or some other receptacle.

Hart netted 26 votes in Scott County after the recount board adjourned Wednesday without addressing a discrepancy in the number of absentee ballots recorded. Her campaign says it also expects to net nine votes in Jasper County, if the results remain unchanged after another machine recount of absentee ballots concludes Wednesday night.

That could tie the race with only Clinton County — where Hart lives on a Wheatland farm and served as an educator and state senator — yet to report. ... Clinton’s recount board has already reviewed most of its ballots, with Hart so far netting a single vote, said county auditor Eric Van Lancker. The board will return Saturday morning to finish recounting the last 5,000 or so absentee ballots, he said.

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