Could Florida's 13th District See a New Election Due to Voting Issues?

  • Context: News 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Skyhunter
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the potential for a new election in Florida's 13th District due to significant voting issues, specifically concerning a high number of undervotes reported in the recent election. Participants explore the implications of these issues on electoral integrity and public confidence in the voting process.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants highlight that 18,000 undervotes (15%) in the election raise serious concerns about the reliability of electronic voting machines.
  • There are claims that the machine malfunctions may have disenfranchised voters, prompting legal action for a new election to restore public confidence.
  • One participant notes that the undervotes appeared to skew Democratic in other races, suggesting that if votes were lost, they likely favored the Democratic candidate, Christine Jennings.
  • Concerns are raised about the lack of a paper trail for electronic voting machines, which complicates the possibility of recounts and further investigation into the voting issues.
  • Some participants express frustration with the voting system, questioning how such a high rate of undervotes could occur in a modern electoral process.
  • A satirical comment suggests that the voting process is so flawed that it resembles a game of chance, reflecting a deep dissatisfaction with the electoral system.
  • A humorous post mimics a dismissive attitude towards the situation, implying that the undervotes favoring Democrats is a result of incompetence among voters.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views, with some agreeing on the severity of the voting issues while others contest the implications of the undervotes. There is no consensus on the causes of the undervotes or the appropriate response to the situation.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the limitations of the analysis regarding the undervotes, including the inability to determine individual voter preferences or the specific reasons for the lack of congressional choices on the ballots.

Skyhunter
Lawsuits have been filed by a candidate, and voters, to re conduct the election in the 13th district of Florida because of 18,000 under votes (15%). This bears watching.

Citing statistical and eyewitness evidence of significant machine malfunctions sufficient to call into doubt the result of the election for Florida Congressional District 13, the Christine Jennings campaign today officially contested the election in Circuit Court. The complaint specifically requests the judge to order a new election “to ensure that the will of the people of the Thirteenth District is respected, and to restore the confidence of the electorate, which has been badly fractured by this machine-induced debacle.”

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2061&Itemid=113

Voters from Sarasota County announced today that they are filing suit in state court in Tallahassee asking for a revote in Florida’s 13th congressional district. The suit alleges that thousands of citizens were disenfranchised when massive undervotes plagued the tight congressional race between Democrat Christine Jennings and Republican Vern Buchanan. In a high-profile battle over former Rep. Katherine Harris' seat, the result was decided by 363 votes, yet over 18,000 ballots cast on Sarasota County's e-voting machines registered no vote in the race, an exceptional anomaly in the State.
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2066&Itemid=113

Here is a list of election problems around the country.

All 231 of them.


http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp
 
Physics news on Phys.org
15% is way too high, and I would be rather upset myself if I had made an effort to vote only to find out that a machine screwed up and my vote didn't register.

It is not enough simply to go through the process of voting - the vote must be registered.

This kind of problem is really unacceptable and it would seem those who are responsible for the function of this process do not care enough.

Lack of integrity will undermine any political or social system.
 
Skyhunter said:
18,000 under votes (15%)

Voting instructions: The polling officer will roll a die. If you land a '6', your ballot will be torn up. Better luck next time!

I mean really - how can people tolerate such an abysmal system? 15% of votes lost? In the 21st century? In a first-world superpower? :confused:

I wonder how many of those 363 deciding votes were multiple-votes cast by technically ept voters using anyone of the numerous backdoors. :rolleyes:
 
Skyhunter said:
13th district of Florida
Katherine Harris' district? How unexpected!
 
Rach3 said:
Voting instructions: The polling officer will roll a die. If you land a '6', your ballot will be torn up. Better luck next time!

I mean really - how can people tolerate such an abysmal system? 15% of votes lost? In the 21st century? In a first-world superpower? :confused:

I wonder how many of those 363 deciding votes were multiple-votes cast by technically ept voters using anyone of the numerous backdoors. :rolleyes:
Do I detect some cynicism or perhaps a tad bit dissatisfaction?
 
After an analysis of the ballots the Orlando Sentinel has found that the ballots in question heavily favored Dem's.

The analysis of the so-called "undervotes" examined the races for U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner.

The results showed that the undervoted ballots skewed Democratic in all of those races, even in the three races in which the county as a whole went Republican.

In the governor's race, for example, Republican Charlie Crist won handily in Sarasota, easily beating Democrat Jim Davis. But on the undervoted ballots, Davis finished ahead by almost 7 percentage points.

In the agriculture commissioner's race, Republican Charles Bronson beat Copeland by a double-digit margin among all voters. But on the undervoted ballots, Copeland won by about 3 percentage points.

Some questions remain

The analysis does not -- and cannot -- reveal why no congressional choice was recorded on the ballots. It also cannot determine which candidate any single voter might have selected had he or she made a choice.

But the strong performance of other Democrats indicates Jennings would have found a sizable number of supporters within the group.

"If votes were actually lost," Dill said, "it appears those votes would have favored the Democrat."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/elections/orl-mvote2206nov22,0,1009612.story?page=2&coll=orl-home-headlines

I believe that the most important domestic issue facing this country is the need for an electoral process that re-instills confidence in the democratic process.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Security Of Electronic Voting Is Condemned

As if we didn't already know this.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/30/AR2006113001637.html

Paperless electronic voting machines used throughout the Washington region and much of the country "cannot be made secure," according to draft recommendations issued this week by a federal agency that advises the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Guess what kind of machines were used in Florida's 13th district. No paper trail = no recount. That is why they are asking for a new election.
 
What, no wingnuts are going to weigh in here? Lemme give it a try:

<wingnut>
Hah! off corse the undervotes favered the democraps, dumbocrat voters r too stoopid to work the voting machiens.
</wingnut>
 

Similar threads

News What is Diebold's history of breaches and corruption in the voting industry?
  • · Replies 32 ·
2
Replies
32
Views
7K