The contest primarily impacted by the error was the Second Congressional District race. Due to the discrepancy, Sec Pate ordered a hand-count audit of the precinct in question and requested a countywide administrative recount of all results.
“The integrity of Iowa’s elections is my top priority as State Commissioner of Elections,” Sec Pate said. “We have protections in place in Iowa to ensure the integrity of the vote. All elections are conducted on paper ballots. There is a paper trail that allows us to go back and look at all the results if there is a discrepancy. We conduct post-election audits. The system worked and we will make sure all the numbers are accurate.”
Auditor Parrott agrees with Secretary Pate’s request for a countywide recount.
“Obviously on election night the Jasper County Auditor’s Office made an election results reporting error. It has since been corrected,” Auditor Parrott said. “I credit the system of checks and balances that Iowa has that gives auditors time before the county supervisors canvass the vote to catch errors and issues that may have happened on Election Day.”
The hand-count audit of the precinct in question and countywide administrative recount will begin immediately and be completed ahead of the Jasper County canvass of votes on Tuesday afternoon.
Election night results are always unofficial. The numbers are not finalized until after counties conduct post-election audits and canvasses, and the numbers are certified on a statewide basis at the end of November. Every county is conducting post-election audits in randomly selected precincts to help ensure the integrity of the vote.
You can view the unofficial results for every county at this link.
