Groups Sue for New Florida Congressional Vote

A lawsuit filed in Florida state court Tuesday alleges that electronic voting machines in a portion of Florida's 13th Congressional District were improperly maintained and selected, causing problems in the House race between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings.

Although Sarasota County officials -- where the problem is said to have taken place -- certified their results allowing Buchanan to win by some 369 votes, there were fairly widespread reports of difficulty in casting votes in the race.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune conducted an unscientific survey shortly following the vote and found some troubling results. Of the 300 who called the paper to report problems, 36 had trouble finding the race, and 62 percent said the machine failed to initially register a vote on the review screen shown before casting the vote.

These problems apparently affected the results of the race. Some 18,000 voters, or about one out of every seven, cast no vote for the House seat. Contrast this with the national average, which sits at about one out of every 50 voters.

The issues may have been enough to give Buchanan the edge - Sarasota County voted for Jennings by a margin of 53 to 47 percent. Thus, several left leaning groups including People for the American Way, Voter Action, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and Electronic Frontier Foundation have sued to challenge the results and are asking for a revote.

Democrat Jennings has also requested an investigation and re-vote, filing a separate complaint on Tuesday. The campaign contents that it was " clearly a case of machine error."

Representatives for Election Systems and Services, the company that produced the e-voting machines used in the district, nor county elections supervisor Kathy Dent were responding to media requests for comment.