WP political blog, "The Fix," by Chris Cillizza
12/ 6/2006
Still No Winner in Florida's 13th District
News of aspiring 2008 presidential candidates may have pushed the just-concluded midterm elections off the front pages, but one 2006 story remains without an end -- the ongoing legal fight over the results in Florida's 13th Congressional District.
At issue is the high rate of "undervoting" in the vote tally, as some 18,000 ballots recorded votes for other offices in Sarasota County but not for the congressional race between auto dealer Vern Buchanan (R) and banker Christine Jennings (D). That undervote rate was six times higher than in the other counties of the district.
Florida election authorities certified Buchanan's 369-vote victory on Nov. 20, but Jennings has sued the state and the manufacturer of the touch-screen voting machines used in the county in hopes of getting to the bottom of the matter....
Jennings has asked a state court to either declare her the winner or schedule a re-vote. Meanwhile, Buchanan has moved forward with his plans to take over the seat in the 110th Congress....While the incoming Democratic House majority is sure to use the 13th District as an example of the need for a paper trail for touch-screen voting machines, it seems unlikely that the party will get involved in the legal fight between Jennings and Buchanan. Asked about the situation, a spokeswoman for incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would say only: "We're monitoring the situation."
Jennings has until Dec. 20 to ask the House Administration Committee to investigate the election and rule on which candidate should be seated. She has said she will likely ask Congress to look into the election, as the state court case is unlikely to be resolved by that deadline. Jennings also has the option of filing suit in federal court to overturn the election results....
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