CHARLES CITY — Floyd County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, Morrigan Montagne, has formally requested the Floyd County Board of Supervisors to authorize an Administrative Audit of the Absentee Precinct following a procedural discrepancy in the recent election.
The issue arose during Tuesday’s special election for the Floyd county board of supervisors for the district 2 seat, in which Democrat Frank Rottinghaus defeated Republican Joshua Neupert, 275-273. Votes in the Absentee Precinct were inadvertently counted in Test Mode instead of Election Day Mode, Montagne, says, prompting the need for verification to uphold the integrity of the election process.
Under Iowa Code §50.50, 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 established under Iowa Code §53.23.
The Board of Supervisors will consider the request during a special meeting at 9:00 a.m. on September 25, 2025, in the Floyd County Courthouse Board Room. Board action is required to authorize the audit.
Following the Board meeting, the Post-Election Audit—a routine procedure mandated by the Iowa Secretary of State—will begin at 10:00 a.m. The Secretary of State has selected Precinct CC2/CC3/St. Charles North (Trinity United Methodist Church) for this audit. 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.
Auditor Montagne stated, “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. 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.”
For more information, please contact the Floyd County Auditor’s Office.