The Iowa Legislature on Monday handed a seat to a state GOP lawmaker after voting to reject 29 absentee mail ballots in a closely-contested race, according to The Associated Press.
The AP noted that the 29 mailed absentee ballots were sent to election officials on time, according to a U.S. Postal Service scan of a barcode on the envelopes.
According to Iowa law, mailed absentee ballots are required to have postmarks confirming they were sent a day prior to an election.
The Republicans in the Legislature argued that a postal routing barcode was not an intelligent mail barcode under Iowa law and that the ballots should be rejected because of it.
"This isn't comfortable. This isn't pleasant and we don't change the rules in the middle of the contest. That's why we have to follow the rule of law in this case," GOP state Rep. Steve Holt said, according to AP. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate's office told AP that 1,045 absentee ballots received by mail were rejected in the November election in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the outlet.
Bergan won the Iowa state legislature seat in November in a race where about 14,000 votes were cast.
In the first vote of the Iowa House in 2019, #IAGOP voted to deny 29 Iowans their right to vote.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/427435-iowa-house-hands-gop-state-lawmaker-election-win-after-rejecting-29
The AP noted that the 29 mailed absentee ballots were sent to election officials on time, according to a U.S. Postal Service scan of a barcode on the envelopes.
According to Iowa law, mailed absentee ballots are required to have postmarks confirming they were sent a day prior to an election.
The Republicans in the Legislature argued that a postal routing barcode was not an intelligent mail barcode under Iowa law and that the ballots should be rejected because of it.
"This isn't comfortable. This isn't pleasant and we don't change the rules in the middle of the contest. That's why we have to follow the rule of law in this case," GOP state Rep. Steve Holt said, according to AP. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate's office told AP that 1,045 absentee ballots received by mail were rejected in the November election in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the outlet.
Bergan won the Iowa state legislature seat in November in a race where about 14,000 votes were cast.
In the first vote of the Iowa House in 2019, #IAGOP voted to deny 29 Iowans their right to vote.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/427435-iowa-house-hands-gop-state-lawmaker-election-win-after-rejecting-29
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