Iowa House advances bill to update election recount procedures

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) - A bill advancing in the Iowa House would change parts of the process for election recounts in Iowa, including a new composition of election recount boards and lowering the margin at which the state will foot the bill for a recount.

House File 596 relates to recounts of elections and election contests at all levels, and would require a discrepancy of 1% of the total votes or less between the assumed winning candidate and the candidate requesting the recount.

Under current law, if a recount is requested for a margin of 50 votes, or 1% of the vote or less, the state will pay for the recount process. HF 596 stipulates the state would only cover the cost of a recount if the margin were 0.1% or less. In all other instances, the candidate, or their committee, would have to pay a bond to cover the costs associated with the recount if it fails to change the result.

Election recount boards currently consist of a designee selected by each candidate and a person chosen jointly by the designees. The bill would amend the recount boards to include up to five individuals from each candidate, the county commissioner of elections, their staff and staff hired by the commissioner during the election to tally ballots.






https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/iowa-house-advances-bill-to-update-election-recount-procedures/ar-AA1zWI0D