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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA
No. 68 / 06-1344 Filed July 20, 2007 IN RE AHST COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT PUBLIC MEASURE "B" ELECTION, CONTESTANTS, Appellants.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, J.C. Irvin, Judge.

Contestants appeal the district court's ruling that dismissed their election contest for lack of jurisdiction. AFFIRMED.

Joseph D. Thornton and Nathan R. Watson of Smith Peterson Law Firm, LLP, Council Bluffs, for appellants.

Brian L. Gruhn of Gruhn Law Firm, Cedar Rapids, for appellee AHST Community School District.

2 APPEL, Justice. This dispute arises out of a challenge to a school bond election held on September 13, 2005 in the Avoca-Hancock-Shelby-Tenant Community School District (AHST). At the conclusion of the election, it appeared that the measure had obtained the required sixty percent supermajority by a narrow margin. After a recount and a contest court review failed to reverse the outcome, the plaintiffs filed an action in district court seeking to set aside the result. The district court dismissed the petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction 1 due to the plaintiffs' failure to timely file a bond with the county auditor. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the decision of the district court. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS.

On September 13, 2005, the eligible voters of the AHST community were asked whether to approve bonds not to exceed $5,420,000 to construct athletic facilities and purchase land for such purposes near the present high school. On September 16, 2005, the Board of Canvassers certified the election results--1175 "yes" votes versus 774 "no" votes. By garnering 60.29% of the vote, the measure met the sixty percent supermajority requirement. See Iowa Code

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