Rita Hart picked up 26 more votes than Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Scott County's recount of Iowa's Second Congressional District race, the closest in the nation.
The recount left Miller-Meeks with an eight-vote lead over Hart out of about 394,000 votes cast across 24 counties.
Associated Press reported Meeks ahead across the district with 196,958 votes to Hart's 196,950.
A three-member Scott County recount board concluded Hart gained 105 votes and Miller Meeks gained 79 votes, with Hart netting 26 more. Board members are Davenport attorney Ian Russell, representing the Rita Hart campaign, Dick Davidson, for Miller-Meeks and retired District Court Judge John Nahra.
The board launched a recount Nov. 17 at the county warehouse. It wrapped up counting Nov. 21, but reconvened Wednesday to resolve a discrepancy disclosed by county supervisors Tuesday.
The auditor told Scott County supervisor Tony Knobbe the recount found 131 more absentee ballots than the earlier canvass.
The recount board board on Wednesday confirmed the latest updated, and voted 2-1 to adjourn, rejecting the Miller-Meeks designee's request for a fresh machine recount of absentee ballots.
"The recount of absentee ballots in Scott County was unreliable," said Miller-Meeks campaign attorney Alan Ostergren.
At 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, County Auditor Roxanna Moritz said the work was done and issued this statement:
DAVENPORT – Scott County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Roxanna Moritz announced Wednesdsay, Nov. 25, that the Recount Board for the U.S. Representative 2nd District election concluded its work and delivered a report to her office today, Wednesday, November 25, 2020.
The Recount Board reported that Rita Hart received a total of 47,562 votes and Marinannette Miller-Meeks received a total of 42,046 votes. The official canvas of votes approved by the Scott County Board of Supervisors showed Hart with 47,457 votes and Miller-Meeks with 41,967 votes. Comparing the recount to the official canvass shows Hart gaining 105 votes and Miller Meeks gaining 79 votes, with Hart netting 26 more votes than Miller Meeks.
Link to Scott County 2020 General Election Results:
Hart's campaign issued this statement at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday:
“When we began this recount Rita Hart was down a mere 47 votes. Now, the count has narrowed even further, with Rita netting 26 votes in Scott County alone. Scott County’s bipartisan recount board spent the last week working to ensure that all legal votes cast for Rita Hart and Mariannette Miller-Meeks were accurately counted. That the Miller-Meeks campaign would object now, to a process that their recount board designee demanded, signifies nothing except for their alarm that a careful, thorough, bipartisan recount dramatically shrank the gap between the candidates. As we have said from the beginning of the recount process, the most important thing is that Iowans’ voices are heard and their votes counted fairly. The bipartisan recount in Scott County accomplished this task.”