WASHINGTON, DC – Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, issued the following statement criticizing defeated Iowa congressional candidate Rita Hart’s call for the U.S. House of Representatives to overturn her defeat. The state of Iowa formally certified the results of the race in Iowa’s second district following a recount. The certified results affirmed a six-vote victory for Representative-elect Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
“The votes in Iowa’s second congressional district have been counted. They have been recounted. And the results have been certified. Marriannette Miller-Meeks’ margin of victory is a narrow, but clear, six votes. Now, Rita Hart is trying to go over the heads of Iowa courts and Iowa voters with an audacious appeal to Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives to overturn her defeat.
If the House chooses to do so, it risks setting a dangerous precedent: that partisan majorities may override the will of voters to bolster their own ranks in contested elections. With faith in democratic institutions already on the decline for millions of voters, there could not be a worse time for this sort of rank partisan politicking.”
