Letter to the Editor: A request for both Koether and Bergan to contest the handling of the District 55 election

"Based on my extensive interactions with the Secretary of State's Office and the Winneshiek County Auditor, whom I hold in high regard, I am not at all surprised by the judge's decision in the District 55 election court case.  These entities developed a solid position based on State of Iowa Election Law.  In light of these results, I write this letter to make a formal and public request to both candidates in District 55 to contest this election, based on the same argument. In contrast to the vast majority of the discussion surrounding District 55, this case is not focused on the absentee ballots that weren't counted, but rather on the ones that were.

 
The grounds for contesting an election are listed in Chapter 7 of the Election Administrator's Handbook posted on the Iowa Secretary of State's website.  They include the following (copied directly):
•    "Misconduct, fraud or corruption on the part of any election official or of any board of canvassers of sufficient magnitude to change the result of the election.
•    That illegal votes have been received or legal votes rejected at the polls, sufficient to change the result of the election."

State of Iowa election law was broken in District 55 as a result of misconduct by the Fayette County Auditor.  Webster defines misconduct as 'mismanagement especially of governmental or military responsibilities.' Specifically, the Fayette County Auditor illegally submitted 12 absentee ballots to the Secretary of State's Office, which were then included in the final tally.  This illegal submission is an indisputable fact, one that both the Secretary of State's Office and the Winneshiek County Auditor's Office have indicated was a clear violation of the law.  Also indisputable is that these 12 ballots are sufficient to change the results of this election.  Based on a binomial distribution of Fayette County election results performed by a professional statistician, there is nearly a 1 in 5 chance that if these 12 votes had not been included in the tally, the outcome in this election would have been different.

The undeniable conclusion is that based on legally submitted ballots as defined by Iowa election law, the winner of the District 55 election is currently unknown. The voters of District 55, as well as the candidates, are entitled to an election that follows the law and an election that sends the rightful winner, based on legally submitted votes, to serve as their representative for two years. 

On these grounds, I make a request to both Kayla Koether and Michael Bergan to contest this election.  In a functioning democracy, voters must have full confidence that their named representative was elected as defined by law.  This confidence is also critical for the District 55 Representative, as their ability to effectively serve and represent their constituents will be compromised for their full two years in office if it is not known with clarity who won the election based on State of Iowa Law. 

I invite Iowa voters to join me in this request, including those that have stressed on these pages that election law be followed for the District 55 case.  I would also expect support from Secretary of State Paul Pate, who indicated in his recent press release that "As Secretary of State, I swear an oath to uphold the Constitution and Laws of the State of Iowa...my job is to be the referee of elections and not side with one candidate or party."  In District 55, State of Iowa election law was not followed, and the identity of the District 55 winner hangs in the balance.  Out of respect for the voters of District 55 and each other, I make a public request for both candidates to contest this election."