An Iowa judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Democratic Iowa House District 55 candidate Kayla Koether.

Koether was suing Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate and Winneshiek County Auditor Ben Steines to force election officials to count 29 mailed absentee ballots that could change the outcome of the election.

The ballots were not postmarked but carry a postal bar code that confirms they were mailed by the state-mandated deadline.

Koether lost by just nine votes to incumbent Republican Michael Bergan.

Judge Scott Beattie explained in court filings he dismissed the lawsuit because the matter was beyond the jurisdiction of the courts and could only be settled by the Iowa House of Representatives.

“We agree with the judge’s ruling that, per Iowa Code and the State Constitution, the Iowa House of Representatives is the proper authority for hearing an election contest,” Pate said in a statement.

Pate and Steines, both Republicans, had argued the could not legally count the ballots because they were not postmarked and did not carry a special barcode auditor's use to authenticate ballots.

We have reached out to Koether for comment but we have been unable to reach her at this time.