The Muscatine County Board of Supervisors during its regular meeting on Nov. 25 revised the agenda to note that the recanvass of the U.S. Congressional District 1 race from the Nov. 5 General Election was rescheduled to Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 9 a.m.
The recanvass had been scheduled for Nov. 25.
“Unfortunately, some issues with access to the Secretary of State’s website didn’t allow time to upload the files and ensure accuracy, so we moved the canvass to Wednesday to make sure staff had time to review all the information before finalizing,” Chairperson Jeff Sorensen said in an email.
The board of supervisors approved during its Nov. 18 regular meeting a recount of votes cast for the U.S. Congressional District 1 race in the Nov. 5 General Election between Democrat Christina Bohannan and Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
Bohannan requested a recount. Miller-Meeks previously was ahead in the race with 801 votes. The recount request was filed with the Muscatine County auditor on Nov. 14.
The Muscatine County recount started at 8 a.m. and completed at 6:15 p.m. on Nov. 20, according to an email from Auditor Tibe Vander Linden. The recount was conducted by voting equipment. Recounted were the 25 election day precincts, followed by the absentees – 7,852 ballots – on the Central Count DS450 machine. The total ballot count was 19,873.
“Our recount Election Day precinct ballots were 100 percent accurate,” Vander Linden’s email said. “Our absentee ballot count changed: One additional vote for Miller-Meeks and one less vote for Bohannan (within the absentee tally). The overall total number of ballots did not change, just the tally.”
Before the recount, Muscatine County General Election results, available at muscatinecountyiowa.gov under “Election Results,” had showed Miller-Meeks with 10,137 votes to Bohannan’s 9,129 votes.
As of Nov. 25, with all 20 counties in Congressional District 1 reporting, Miller-Meeks had 206,942 votes to Bohannan’s 206,144 votes, according to the Iowa Secretary of State “2024 General Election” unofficial results.
Members of the recount board were Katie Carl of Mount Vernon, a Bohannan designee; Rich Phillips of Muscatine, a Miller-Meeks designee and Gary Slight of Muscatine, a third member.
In 2020, when the race between Miller-Meeks and Democrat Rita Hart for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District went to a recount, Miller-Meeks was certified as the winner by six votes.
$70K maintenance project
Supervisors authorized Sorensen to sign a contract with Myers Construction Inc. of Mediapolis for the Muscatine County Administration Building Maintenance Project – Phase I. The contract is for $69,778. The board accepted Myers Construction’s bid during its regular meeting on Nov. 18.
$322K for two Mack trucks
Supervisors approved the Muscatine County Engineer’s Office and Highway Department’s purchase of two 2026 Mack Cab and Chassis trucks at $160,980 each for a total price of $321,960 from H & L Mack of Mediapolis. Two 2017 Mack Granite trucks will be traded.
River Bend transit change
Supervisors accepted an amendment to the River Bend Transit By-Laws to remove term limits for county representatives serving on the River Bend Transit Board of Directors.