Ballot Audit Completed, No Changes in Numbers, Rottinghaus Wins Floyd Co. Supervisor Seat
While results are still not official, an audit of votes cast in Tuesday’s (09.23) special election for the District 2 seat on the Floyd County Board of Supervisors has confirmed the vote totals reported after the polls closed.
Unofficial results showed Democrat Frank Rottinghaus edging out Republican Joshua Neupert by 275 votes to 273 votes. Independents Aaron Hobert and Doug Lindaman were third and fourth with 132 and 24 votes respectively.
Of the 705 votes cast by District 2 voters, 154 were absentee ballots, with 76 of those to Rottinghaus, 52 to Neupert, 17 to Hobert and eight to Lindaman.
During a special meeting Thursday (09.25) morning, County Auditor Morrigan Montagne requested Supervisors to approve an administrative audit of votes for the Absentee Precinct in Floyd County.
Former County Auditor, now Supervisor, Gloria Carr stressed that the error was procedural and NOT mechanical.
Supervisors, including Neupert, approved Montagne’s request, with the audit conducted by the Board of the Special Precinct, as outlined in Iowa Code 50.50 and HF 928. This board is also known as the Absentee and Special Voters’ Precinct (ASVP) Board.
Thursday afternoon, Montagne announced that both the post-election audit and the administrative audit have been successfully completed, with results matching the reported election outcomes.
She adds that the post-election audit included a hand-count of ballots from the CC2/CC3/St. Charles North Precinct (Trinity United Methodist Church) to verify the accuracy of the County’s vote tabulation system.
Montage says election results are still unofficial until a canvass is completed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (09.30) at 10 am. As it stands currently, Rottinghaus, who was Floyd County Treasurer for some 20 years, will serve out the remainder of Keifer’s term, which runs until the end of 2026.
Montagne previously noted that “In all previous post-election audits conducted in Floyd County, no discrepancies affecting the outcome have been found.”
