Cross-posted at My Left Wing and BlueSunbelt.
Ok, so she didn't really say that but she should start practicing a similar statement in front of a mirror -- if a decision by Florida's First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee goes her way, that is -- and it very well could.
Living in Florida's 13th Congressional District (coverage of the controversy by The Sarasota Herald Tribune) hasn't been easy lo, these last 41/2-months. I experienced in real time the difficulties voters had with those dysfunctional Touch-Screen voting machines manufactured by Election System & Software. Wikipedia does a good job of telling the story of their controversial voting machines right here
Flirtin with Disaster :: Christine Jennings to Vern Buchanan: "Remember Me, Big Boy?"
The Sarasota County area, and especially the city itself, is definitely trending blue nowadays, and I thought Ms. Jennings really connected with the citizens in this laid-back, Suncoast town. After beating out Jennings for the nomination, Jan Shneider nearly beat Katherine Harris in '04 and I really think my town has been suffering from "Harris fatigue" ever since, and I sincerely doubt we'd purposefully elect someone like Vern Buchanan who's been plagued for many years with, shall we say, dubious business dealings.
So, I'm prepared right now; right here to proclaim Christine Jennings my congressional representative. Now, if we can get a judge to agree?
Sunday's article in The Pelican Press, a local Suncoast newspaper, really bolstered my hopes for a just conclusion to this egregious election debacle.
What Jennings still has going for her are two things: 1) Florida's First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee could still grant outside experts access to the county's touch-screen voting machines; and 2) her appeal before Congress could set Buchanan's election aside.
"The key to this case is evidence," said Sam Hirsch, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who has taken over the lead role in her case. "If the voting machines malfunctioned then the wrong person is serving in Congress. We have been denied access to their software, hardware and source codes."
Late every afternoon, Monday through Friday, Hirsch visits the appellate court's Web site to see whether a three-judge panel has ruled on Jennings' request for access to the ES&S iVotronic machines' internal systems. A decision in her favor could lead to a revote.
"Congress would prefer the appellate court order access to the evidence," Hirsch said. "If it doesn't, a task force appointed by the Committee on House Administration still could. But it would take more time. The only thing we know for sure is a lot of poll workers reported problems."
Over the past months, many elections experts have weighed in on what may have happened to the missing votes; including, Princeton Prof. Ed Felton, Cornell Prof. Walter Melbane, Stanford Prof. David Dill, and last but certainly not least; MIT Prof. Charles Stewart.
There's one thing they all agree on: (1) the 13% Sarasota County under-vote is a yet to be explained aberration, And (2) Jennings would have won had there been a typical 2-3% under-vote for a "top-of-the-ballet" race.
More from the article:
"Sarasota County residents showed prescience on Nov. 7 when they voted to get rid of those machines," Hirsch said. "It's interesting that Gov. Charlie Crist also wants to get rid of paperless voting machines. County voters should feel proud they did the right thing."
Until the appellate court hands down a ruling on Jennings' request for access to the ES&S internal systems, the story of what happened in Florida District 13 will continue to swirl around allegations of incompetence on the part of county and state elections officials.
The latest is that Elections Supervisor Kathy Dent dragged her feet last August when warned by ES&S that more than 1,600 of the county's touch-screen machines could experience delayed responses from a "smoothing filter" problem. It was never corrected.
All Christine Jennings wants is to put all doubts and speculation to rest through the use of an extensive forensics examination of the machine's hardware, software and the ever enigmatic "source codes," conducted by an expert in the field, Rice University Prof. Dan Wallach. Prof. Wallach works in the university's computer security laboratory. When Ms. Jennings first appealed the results of the election, the professor testified before Circuit Court Judge William Gary. Now, if the appellate court rules in her favor, the case goes back to Judge Gary with an order to allow the internal testing.
"Ms. Jennings has taken a very responsible position," Hirsch said. "All she has asked for is that the equipment be tested to find out what cost her the election. It's really a very modest position. All she wants is a look at the evidence to see if a new election is called for."
This has been a lonnnnnng time coming, folks. Let's hope she finally gets her wish.
Tags: The Pelican Press, Christine Jennings, Vern Buchanan, Sarasota herald Tribune, Fla, District-13, (All Tags) :: Add/Edit Tags on this Post
__________________________
