(Jasper County, IA) -- Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has ordered an audit of one precinct and a county-wide recount of ballots from this week's election. The action taken after Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott reported a vote counting error. Parrott says it was a human error, noting someone transposed a number.
The mistake was caught Thursday and Jasper County made the correction, then reported it to the Secretary of State's Office. Parrott says the mistake impacted several county races. It also had a big impact on Iowa's 2nd District Congressional District.
Democrat Rita Hart now has a narrow lead in that race over Republican Marianette Miller-Meeks.
Saturday's recount is automated and is expected to take up to four hours. Parrott says the hand-counting of ballots in one precinct is expected to take days.
Pate says the results are still unofficial. He also says candidates have the option of asking for a recount. He says that could entail one precinct, one county, or in the case of the 2nd Congressional District, multiple counties.
The 2nd Congressional District covers southeast Iowa.