Iowa House committee votes to deny Kayla Koether's petition to count 29 absentee ballots

As expected, the Iowa House Election Contest Committee voted 3-to-2 Thursday afternoon to deny a petition by Democratic candidate Kayla Koether to count 29 absentee ballots in the Iowa House District 55 election.

The vote was strictly along party lines, with three Republicans--Steven Holt from Denison, Jon Jacobsen from Council Bluffs and Matt Windschiti from Missouri Valley--voting in favor of denying Koether's petition and two Democrats--Brian Meyer from Des Moines and Mary Wolfe from Clinton--voting against denying the petition.

Holt, who chaired the committee, said he and the two other Republicans had reviewed video records from the 2016 legislative session discussion of allowing ballots with "Intelligent Mail Barcodes" to be counted, but said the Winneshiek County Auditor did not participate in the Intelligent Mail barcode program, so "it is impossible to tell when the ballots were sent."  Said Holt, "The legislative intent is very clear and the Iowa Code is very clear and the administrative code is very clear--we lack the legal authority to open those absentee ballots and count them." 

Meyer, in arguing that the absentee ballots should be counted, told the committee, "The whole thing has been a kangaroo court.  It's a violation of due process...it's completely unfair to the voters who did not have their ballots counted in Winneshiek County."  He complained, "there have been no witnesses presented, there have been no exhibits presented...this is a failure of due process on the committee level."  Wolfe, the other Democrat on the committee, joined in the criticism, noting, "We're not asking to do Ms. Koether a favor...we're asking that this committee follow the law..and require all 29 of those legally cast ballots be opened and counted."

The recommendation from the Election Contest Committee will now be forwarded to the full Iowa House, which will vote on the recommendation Monday afternoon.