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Iowa House Election Contest Committee is expected to vote Thursday afternoon to deny Kayla Koether's appeal to count 29 ballots in the Iowa House District 55 election

Posted: Wed, Jan 23, 2019 2:14 PM
Members of the Iowa House Election Contest Committee

The Iowa House of Representatives' Election Contest Committee has reached a conclusion regarding the House District 55 contest--one that will deny a petition by Democratic candidate Kayla Koether to count 29 absentee ballots.

The committee will meet Thursday at 2:00 p.m. to vote on the final report.  It is expected that the three Republicans on the committee will vote to deny Koether's petition.  The two Democrats on the committee are expected to file a minority report.

The report is still being finalized as of Wednesday.  However, the basic conclusion of the report will be that there is no legal authority to open and tally the 29 ballots in question.

In order for the ballots to be counted, an absentee ballot must have a traditional postmark or an Intelligent Mail barcode and Republicans on the committee have concluded that the ballots received by the Winneshiek County Auditor's Office contained neither--so the ballots cannot be counted.

The Election Contest Committee met for two-and-a-half hours last Wednesday to hear arguments from attorneys representing both candidates in the Iowa House District 55 election.  At the end of Wednesday's committee meeting, committee chair Steven Holt asked both attorneys to submit a list of potential witnesses who could appear before the committee to answer questions.  However, the Republicans on the committee have decided not to hold a second meeting to hear witnesses, but to meet Thursday afternoon to vote on a report.

If the report receives approval--as is expected--it will be sent to the full House of Representatives, which will also have to vote on the recommendation.  Republican Michael Bergan, who has been declared the winner in the election by a 9-vote margin and has been seated in the House, will not be eligible to vote on the report.