I read a KCCI article on it. Feel free to quote the parts that address the questions I asked.
It's in the article Press-Citizen article that @cigaretteman linked in the original post. Here you go:
"Republicans argued in their suit that Iowa's State Objection Panel, which oversees disputes about candidates' nominating petitions, incorrectly allowed one signature in Allamakee County and two in Cedar County that did not include the date.
The panel found that it was clear when the petition was signed because of the dates written next to the previous and subsequent signatures on the petitions."
And further down the article...
"Matt Gannon, an assistant Iowa attorney general representing the State Objection Panel, said the panel was correct under its past precedent to allow the signatures to count. One signature had an unclear date, one was blank and for one, the signer wrote their ZIP code."