# Federal Contested Elections Act The **Federal Contested Elections Act** (1969, Public Law 91-138, codified at 2 U.S.C. §§ 381–396) sets the procedure by which a losing candidate contests a seat in the **U.S. House of Representatives**. It is the statutory implementation of the House's Article I, § 5 power to be "the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members." ## The process 1. The **contestant** files a notice of intent to contest **within 30 days of the result being declared** by the state, stating the grounds "with particularity." Only someone who was a candidate in that election may file. 2. The **contestee** answers; a discovery and deposition period follows; a record is filed. 3. The [[House Administration Committee]] reviews and recommends. 4. The House votes by **simple majority**: affirming the contestee's right to the seat, seating the contestant instead, or finding neither entitled and **declaring the seat vacant**. Two things make it unusual. The clock runs from **state certification**, not Election Day, so a slow-certifying state pushes the whole contest calendar later. And the final arbiter is a **partisan floor vote of the chamber whose composition is in dispute**. No court can review it. The Senate has **no FCEA analogue**; it proceeds under its own Art. I, § 5 authority through the Committee on Rules and Administration. ## How seldom it works The Congressional Research Service counted **107 contested House elections from 1933 to 2011**. The House seated the contestant in **at least three** and declared a seat vacant in at least one. Nearly every other case went to the sitting member, most often because the contestant could not carry the burden of proof. Since the FCEA took effect, dismissal for failure to meet that burden has been the normal outcome. The most famous exception did not run on the statute's ordinary track. In 1985 the House ran its own recount of Indiana's 8th District, the "Bloody Eighth," and seated Democrat Frank McCloskey by four votes; Republicans walked out of the chamber in protest. The episode is still the reference point for the fear that a narrow majority will use its Art. I, § 5 power to pick a member. ## Recent cases - **Iowa 2nd, 2020.** Republican [[Mariannette Miller-Meeks]] won by **six votes** out of about 400,000 after a full recount. Democrat Rita Hart filed under the FCEA, arguing that 22 uncounted ballots should be counted. Under heavy pressure, including from some Democrats, she withdrew on **March 31, 2021**. [[Zoe Lofgren]], then the committee's chair, closed it: "There being no contestant, there is no longer a contest." - **Florida 14th, 2024.** Republican Robert Rochford contested Democrat Kathy Castor's re-election. Florida certified on November 19, 2024, so his deadline was December 19; he filed on **January 9, 2025**. On March 11, 2025 the committee voted by voice to report H. Res. 312, recommending that the House dismiss the contest as untimely without reaching the merits (H. Rept. 119-55). ## Why it matters in 2026 With a narrow House majority, a disputed seat after November 3 would be seated on January 3, 2027 on the state's certificate. A pending FCEA contest does not stop that, and seating the member does not end the contest. The decision then belongs to a committee and a floor majority whose own margin may depend on the outcome. See [[Election Contest]] for how state contests differ, and [[How a Midterm Election Is Certified]] for where the 30-day clock starts. ## See Also - [[How a Midterm Election Is Certified]] · [[Election Contest]] · [[State Election Contest Crosswalk]] - [[United States House of Representatives]] · [[House Administration Committee]] - [[Powell v. McCormack]] · [[Electoral Count Reform Act]]