Why It Matters
The House dismissed five Federal Contested Election Act (FCEA) challenges in the 119th Congress, covering Alaska at-large, Florida-14 (twice), Texas-28 and Texas-30, the most FCEA dismissals in a single Congress among those covered by a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. The FCEA gives losing House candidates a statutory path to challenge state-certified results, but contestants must prove entitlement to the seat, and a state certificate provides prima facie evidence of regularity, making reversals rare.
Of the five dismissals, three were for untimely filing: H.Res. 309 (Texas-28), H.Res. 311 (Texas-30) and H.Res. 312 (Florida-14). Two were dismissed for lack of standing: H.Res. 310 (Alaska at-large) and H.Res. 308 (Florida-14). All five resolutions, sponsored by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI-1), were agreed to on Dec. 9, 2025.
The Big Picture
Under the FCEA, enacted in 1969, a contestant must file with the Clerk of the House within 30 days of the state's declaration of results and must "state with particularity the grounds" for the challenge. The Committee on House Administration has jurisdiction over all contests filed under the act.
The 119th Congress's five dismissals followed the 118th Congress, in which the House considered no FCEA contests at all. Before that, the 117th Congress saw two contests: Iowa-2, in which candidate Rita Hart withdrew her challenge, and Illinois-14, dismissed by H.Res. 379 on May 12, 2021, after the Committee on House Administration determined the vote margin would not affect the outcome.
Before the 117th Congress, the House had not considered FCEA contests since the 113th Congress, a gap of approximately eight years. That Congress dismissed contests to 2012 results in California (H.Res. 278) and Tennessee (H.Res. 277), both agreed to on June 26, 2013, and also dismissed a contest in Texas (H.Res. 127).
The report notes that even high-profile disputes do not necessarily produce FCEA contests: after a 2018 investigation of absentee ballot practices in North Carolina's 9th District, the state board of elections ordered a new election, but no FCEA contest was filed.
The Bottom Line
FCEA contests rarely change election results, and contestants fail to overcome motions to dismiss in most cases, according to the report. Contests must be filed within 30 days after the relevant state election authority declares results, and three of the five House contests dismissed in the 119th Congress were dismissed for untimely filing.
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