Thread by @DemocracyDocket

🚨SOON: At 12:00 PM ET the House Administration Committee will meet about a petition for the #IA02 2020 congressional race. We'll be live-tweeting the meeting on this thread. Before the meeting starts, get the facts on the situation below⤵️

The 2020 #IA02 congressional race was extremely close after GOP candidate Marianette Miller-Meeks was certified as the winner by 6 votes. Democratic candidate Rita Hart contested the results under the 1969 Federal Contested Elections Act, claiming 22 legal votes were not counted.

Hart filed a petition with the House Administration Committee who oversees contest election adjudication. The committee is chaired by Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren of #CA19. Miller-Meeks was provisionally seated as the #IA02 representative until the contest is settled.

Miller-Meeks filed a motion to dismiss Hart's petition, making her the permanent #IA02 congressional representative for this term. The meeting today will go over Miller-Meeks' motion to dismiss. You can watch the meeting here👇

🚨HAPPENING NOW: Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) CONVENES Committee on House Administration to address resolution related to the #IA02 contest.

RESOLUTION HERE👉democracydocket.com/wp-content/upl…

LOFGREN: "Federal law and House rules give this Committee the responsibility to hear election contests...an expected part of the election process."

LOFGREN: "Rather than granting or denying Miller-Meek's motion to dismiss, I recommend we POSTPONE to give the Committee an opportunity to hear the merits of the case."

LOFGREN: "[HART] has raised specific credible allegations…that enough ballots were excluded from the count that may have changed the outcome of the elections."

🚨SO FAR in #IA02 hearing...

CHAIR LOFGREN (D): Recommends to POSTPONE the motion to dismiss deposition

RANKING MEMBER DAVIS (R): Recommends to GRANT motion to dismiss

LOFGREN: "Miller-Meeks argues that the Contest should be DISMISSED because Contestee Hart failed to exhaust state procedures before filing notices with the House. However, the House has NEVER dismissed a FCEA petition because the Contestee declined to file a state case."

LOFGREN: "I plan to send both parties a set of identical questions that should control the course of this case, which will be made public."

LOFGREN: "Today, none of us can state with confidence who won this election. It is our obligation to hear hard evidence."

DAVIS: "We already know the outcome of this contest...Miller-Meeks won a free and fair election… the outcome was determined using a transparent and bi-partisan process… She has a Certificate of Election from state officials…I urge the Committee to DISMISS this motion now."

LOFGREN, in response to DAVIS "I believe a dismissal today would be a dereliction of our duty under federal law."

LOFGREN: "I have a record of calling election contests based on the facts. Thats what we're doing here, to find the facts, to search for truth and to act without partisan bias of any sort. We can't do that if we don't allow for evidence to be submitted...."

STEIL (R-WI) SUPPORTS the amendment to GRANT the motion to dismiss contest.

🚨BREAKING: House Republican effort to prematurely dismiss #IA02 election contest FAILS in Committee on House Administration. The contest will continue.