Iowa Democrat to challenge election results with House

But some Democrats are questioning the optics of challenging the certified election results, as President Donald Trump still refuses to concede and makes unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud, despite losing much larger than the Iowa race. .

Hart faced a deadline Wednesday to appeal the results of the recount through state channels. Under Iowa law, Hart’s challenge would trigger the formation of a tribunal, which would include the chief justice of the state Supreme Court and four other judges from the district court. This group would have until Dec. 8 to vote on the issue, a timeline the Hart campaign suggested would be insufficient.

“With such a small margin, it is critical that we take the next step to ensure that legally cast Iowans ballots are counted,” said Zach Meunier, Hart’s campaign manager.

Many members of both parties believed Hart would exhaust all state methods of contesting the election before seeking redress in the House of Representatives, in part because it would force the new, smaller Democratic majority to run into an election. of state.

The process of contesting an election in the House is complex. If Hart challenges the results under the Federal Contested Elections Act of 1969, the matter would be referred to the House Administration Committee, which could conduct an investigation before making a recommendation to the Full House, which would decide by a vote by simple majority. who to sit.

The process that played under this law after the 1984 election was extremely bitter. The Democratic-controlled House under President Tip O’Neill refused Republican Richard McIntyre to sit, even after the Indiana Secretary of State certified McIntyre as the winner over incumbent Rep. Frank McCloskey (D-Ind .). McCloskey objected to what he said was rushed certification and inconsistent standards for ballot counting, and McIntyre was not sitting in the House.

The non-partisan office of general ledger recounted and found McCloskey the winner by four votes. The House voted to sit him down, triggering a strike protest from the Republicans. Back then, Democrats had a larger majority and didn’t need the extra seat as much as they do today.