06/17/2026
If you have been following the Crawford County Board of Supervisors race, you know it was an exceptionally close election. A recount was conducted Monday, and the results changed the outcome for the third Board of Supervisors seat.
Following the recount, the vote totals are:
• Kyle R. Schultz – 1,006
• Craig Dozark – 845
• Brian Rank – 678
• Troy Kluender – 677
• Jonathan Lapel – 428
As a result of the recount, Brian Rank now holds the third seat by one vote. Many voters may wonder how a recount could change the outcome by two votes. The answer highlights why Iowa's election process includes recounts and multiple layers of verification.
The voting equipment used in Crawford County is designed and tested to accurately read ballots when voters fill in the ovals as instructed. In a small number of cases, voters marked their ballots with checkmarks or X's instead of filling in the ovals. Because these marks differ from the standard ballot markings the equipment is calibrated to read, they can be interpreted differently during the scanning process.
Importantly, this does not indicate a problem with the voting machines. The machines accurately count ballots marked according to the instructions provided to voters. This recount demonstrates that Iowa's election system worked as designed. The original count was conducted using certified voting equipment, and the recount provided an additional review of an exceptionally close election.
The Crawford County Board of Supervisors is expected to reconvene later this week to canvass the recount results and make them official.
Thank you to the recount board members, election workers, candidates, and voters who participated in this important democratic process.
