Over 393,000 votes have been counted in Iowa’s second district congressional race — and Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks leads Democrat Rita Hart by just 282 votes.
Hart’s campaign issued a statement just after one o’clock this morning, declaring the race “too close to call” since absentee ballots with a November 2 postmark that arrive in county auditor’s offices by November 9 can be counted. At about 11 o’clock this morning, the Miller-Meeks campaign released a statement, saying it’s “premature” to talk about a recount and expressing confidence that the winning margin for Miller-Meeks will stand.
County Boards of Supervisors will convene next Monday and Tuesday for what’s called the official canvass in each county. That’s a tally of all the votes cast in this year’s election. A candidate who asks for a recount in Iowa must file the request in writing within three days after the official canvass has been done. For this race, that request would have to be made in writing to each of the 24 county auditors in the district.