DAVENPORT, Iowa — Scott County Supervisor Ken Croken is urging the Iowa Secretary of State to investigate why the recount totals of the House District 81 race don't match the candidate-requested recount vote totals.
A letter emailed to Secretary Paul Pate and others in his office from Croken Tuesday night comes after not one, not two, but four recounts in the district since election night.
On Monday, Croken, who is also the representative-elect for House District 97, told News 8's Cesar Sanchez that he is disappointed in how the situation has been handled. The results are official after Monday's canvass, but the process behind it is still unclear.
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Here is the full text of the letter:
"Mr. Secretary,
"I want to commend you for continuously speaking out against false election narratives and giving Iowans confidence their voices are being heard. It is essential that Iowans can trust their election system. Every lawfully cast ballot, either via mail or in-person, needs to be counted. This is why I am requesting, under the authority granted to your office, to launch an investigation into the vote counting processes and procedures of the Scott County Auditor’s office during the 2022 General Election. Specifically, why the administrative recount vote totals do not match the candidate requested recount vote totals.
"On Election Night, Iowa House District #81 candidate, Craig Cooper, was down in his race by 27 votes. After it was discovered that 470 absentee ballots had not been counted, your office called for an administrative recount.
"On November 18th, after running ballots through the machine, then candidate Craig Cooper was up by 6 votes and these results were posted that night. Your office put out a press release stating the error was caught and that the totals matched. After Craig Cooper's opponent called for another recount, which was her right, 45 absentee ballots that were previously counted could not be found and, therefore, were not counted.
"I have no doubt that the recount board acted with integrity and respect for their role, but they can only count the ballots that were presented to them. After multiple recounts, 45 ballots cannot just disappear on the last recount. At yesterday’s county board 'Canvass of Votes' meeting I made several attempts to reconcile the disparity of ballot and/or vote totals by questioning the County Auditor. I was repeatedly ruled 'out-of-order' by the County Board Chairman, denying me and the voters of Scott County any reasonable explanation. I am not asking your office to do something you have not done previously. We must reassure Iowans, specifically Scott County voters, that their constitutional rights were protected; their voices were heard; and, their ballots counted. Therefore, I request your office investigate vote counting procedures of the Scott County Auditor’s office."
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