Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi this morning asking her to “respect Iowa’s bipartisan election certification process.” In the letter, Pate points out the bipartisan process by which Iowa elections are certified.

“The general election and recounts were conducted in a bipartisan manner. There are 12 Republican county auditors and 12 Democratic county auditors in the Second District. Bipartisan teams of precinct election officials staffed the polling places and processed the absentee ballots.

The recount boards in all 24 counties were bipartisan, comprised of one representative from the Miller-Meeks campaign, one representative from the Hart campaign, and a third member who was agreed upon by the other two representatives or appointed by a district court judge. The Hart campaign signed off on the recount procedures and results in all 24 counties.

 

Following the recount, the bipartisan State Canvassing Board unanimously accepted the results and officially certified the election. At the end of this bipartisan process, Mariannette Miller-Meeks won: 196,964-196,958.”

Pate ends the letter pushing back against Hart’s claim that Iowa law did not provide her enough time to go through the Iowa courts. He also calls on the Speaker to let Rep. Miller-Meeks do her job.

“Ms. Hart has stated that her reason for failing to give Iowans a voice in this process is that Iowa law does not allow for sufficient time to review her claims. That assertion is in stark contrast to the fact that Iowa’s Judicial Branch has always gone above and beyond to issue expeditious rulings in cases concerning election law.

 

The Hart campaign should have exhausted all state avenues before asking a federal chamber controlled by her party to make the final determination. Iowans should have the final say in all Iowa elections, not Washington, D.C. politicians.

 

Now, Rita Hart is asking you to “depart from Iowa law” and give her an election victory she did not earn. I strongly urge you to reject any attempts to overturn the will of Iowa voters. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is the official U.S. House Representative for Iowa’s Second District and is serving the district capably. Let her continue to do the job Iowans elected her to do.”

The full letter from Secretary Pate to Speaker Pelosi is below.