Floyd Co Auditor Requests Administrative Audit of Absentee Precinct from Tuesday Special Election
For the time being, former Floyd County Treasurer Frank Rottinghaus is set to become the newest member of the Floyd County Board of Supervisor after winning Tuesday’s “special election” by just two votes.
Unofficial results show Democrat 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.
Only eligible voters in District 2 could vote in the special election, with 705 voters out of 3,218 registered district voters casting ballots, a turnout of almost 22%.
The 705 total votes included 154 absentee ballots, with 76 of those to Rottinghaus, 52 to Neupert, 17 to Hobert and eight to Lindaman. Those absentee ballots are bringing about a recount.
Floyd County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, Morrigan Montagne, has formally requested the Board of Supervisors to authorize an Administrative Audit of the Absentee Precinct following a procedural discrepancy in Tuesday’s special election.
Montagne says the issue arose when votes in the Absentee Precinct were inadvertently counted in Test Mode instead of Election Day Mode, prompting the need for verification to uphold the integrity of the election process. Under Iowa Code, the County Auditor may request an administrative audit when there is reason to believe voting equipment malfunctioned or programming errors may have affected the outcome. The audit would be conducted by the special precinct board.
Board action is required to authorize the audit. Supervisors will consider the request during a special meeting at 9 am Thursday morning.
Following the Board meeting, the Post-Election Audit—a routine procedure mandated by the Iowa Secretary of State—will begin at 10 am. Montagne says the Administrative Audit will follow, focusing on verifying absentee ballots that were inadvertently counted in Test Mode.
With both audits scheduled, all ballots cast in this election will be recounted, either through the administrative audit or the post-election audit.
Montagne says, “These processes reflect our commitment to transparency and accuracy. It ensures every vote is counted correctly and that public trust in our elections remains strong.”
She adds that, while the administrative audit is necessary due to the procedural error, I believe it is unlikely the election counts will change. In all previous post-election audits conducted in Floyd County, no discrepancies affecting the outcome have been found.”
The District 2 Supervisor seat came open in June with the death of Dennis Keifer. In July, Neupert was appointed to fill Keifer’s seat, but a petition of eligible voters in District 2 was filed to force Tuesday’s special election.
If special election results stand, Rottinghaus, previously a Floyd County Treasurer for some 20 years, will serve out the remainder of Keifer’s term, which runs until the end of 2026.
