The closest U.S. House race in the country is in Iowa — and the second congressional district race between Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa and Democrat Rita Hart of Wheatland is still too close to call.

A group of volunteers worked for eight hours Monday, counting every ballot from a precinct in the Jasper County community of Mingo, to confirm results. A clerical error a week ago gave one candidate too many votes. Secretary of State Paul Pate says he ordered yesterday’s audit to remove any doubt about the results.

“In this particular situation, you have human error that was caught,” Pate says, “because the system works.”

Hart issued a statement on Twitter, saying the most important thing is to get the count right.

“I want to say thank you so much to our poll workers and to our election officials who have been working on the front lines for months,” Hart said, “making sure that this process runs smoothly and that all ballots are precisely counted.”

Early last Wednesday, Miller-Meeks was leading Hart in the preliminary tally posted on the Secretary of State’s website. After the Jasper County adjustment last Friday, Hart then was shown in the lead.

County boards of supervisors in the district will finish confirming results today. It’s likely one or both campaigns will ask for recounts in other precincts or counties in the district.

(By Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio )