Looks like a whitewash in Florida. Machines said not at fault in Sarasota County.

[madfloridian]

There were what...18,000 undervotes in the Christine Jennings race. People do not go and vote for everything else and leave out the congressional race. I will never believe that.

Sketchy article, lacking in facts.

Voting Machines Exonerated in 2006 Congressional Race Undervote

TAMPA | The large number of undervotes in a congressional election in 2006 probably wasn’t caused by faulty voting machines, as some have suspected, federal investigators said Wednesday.

Testing of Sarasota County’s ATM-style voting machines revealed no mechanical problems, according to the final report of an investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office provided to The Associated Press.

Democrat Christine Jennings lost the election by 369 votes to Republican Vern Buchanan. She called for the congressional investigation after finding out the machines failed to record more than 18,000 votes in the election in 13th Congressional District election.

The GAO says it’s more likely that voters skipped the race on the ballot, either intentionally or by mistake.

Yeah, right, all 18,000 of them decided to go and vote for everything but their congressperson. :shrug:

Did they already decide other factors were eliminated. I forgot all the details.

Too obvious.

[saltpoint]

1. Christine Jennings won that race, or my name's Lee Atwater.

[Eric J in MN]

2. "or by mistake"

Yes, the ballot design was so bad that even poll workers testing it out after the election missed that race.

[EFerrari]

3. All 18k made the same mistake. Right.

There were machine problems all over the country last night, btw.

Push back!

[ellisonz]

9. Palm Beach is Buchanan country. n/t

:sarcasm:

[lpbk2713]

4. The 'investigators' who found no voting irregularities ...

are probably the same crew who found the state free of any liability in the deadly Interstate 4 pileup.

:sarcasm:

[madfloridian]

13. I saw that! They had the nerve to say the fire had nothing to do with fog.

I read it and thought the same about liability.

[cascadiance]

5. I guess that canceled TV series "Invasion" had turned into a reality show...

... and we have aliens that invaded that town that were programmed not to care about who they voted for in that race! Sheesh!

[emlev]

6. Reminds me of the time my new roof failed. The roofer said the problem wasn't the roof...

it was the rain.

I kid you not.

[saltpoint]

8. Well, the roofer's right. If it weren't for the rain, it wouldn't be a problem!

My god. He actually told you that?

I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd socked him one in the kisser.

[emlev]

14. Yes, it was stunning...

and yes, he really did say that. The roof failed to the extent of $20,000 damage to my home.

And of course, he was right, technically. Because the roof hadn't leaked at all between the time they fixed it and the time it rained.

After that, I swore I'd never buy a house with a roof again.

[saltpoint]

15. LOL! You have turned it into a great story, but I still have to admire your

patience in the face of a comment like that roofer made.

Holy moly.

[emlev]

19. As my late uncle was fond of saying,

"Today's misery is tomorrow's anecdote."

[saltpoint]

20. Bless your late uncle, then. He sounds like a class act.

[tomreedtoon]

7. Why do you think there's a Democratic Party in Florida?

There isn't. There hasn't been since Bob Graham got booted out of the state and into the Senate. Every other person that used to be a Democrat has been working for the Florida Republican Party ever since.

[Rebellious Republican]

10. You will find a picture of Florida right next to the ......

definition for Banana Republic.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

12. It really feels like a Banana Republic - what is with the cops?

We were down there last year, and one day, driving back to mainland from a barrier island,there was a roadblock. Cop (huge and piggy looking and acting) came to our car and we asked what was going on. He said they were doing a routine "safety" inspection, only checking Florida residents' vehicles, making sure people have valid driver's licenses etc., and then told us we could move along. Is this legal?

One morning, we were driving on A1A south of Jacksonville, pulling our camper, in a relatively natural area with not much development or traffic. All of a sudden we were being pulled over by a police car. The cop said we were driving too slow (news to us). He was very unfriendly, almost hostile and acted as if we were suspicious characters (we are normal looking, decent car, no bumper stickers, etc). He took my husband's driver's license and ran a check on it--seemed a bit extreme for the "crime"(?) My husband asked what the minimum speed was, but instead of answering the question, he told us to move along, and then followed us for at least 10 miles. The whole thing was weird and kind of scary.

Welcome to the new Florida...:scared:

[madfloridian]

17. Hey, I have been wondering where you were.

I even posted asking about you.

Things ok with you?

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. MadFloridian is the kpete of Florida.

We should have an award for these fine DUers who keep us well informed.

[BreweryYardRat]

16. My dad knows Vern Buchanan through business, and swears Vern's "completely corrupt."

So it's no surprise he'd steal the election, really.

[emlev]

18. Details?