I received this from FL Democratic Party tonight ...

(Sorry! I meant for this to be posted as a response to another thread about this, but somehow, it ended up as its own.)

CONTRIBUTE TO HELP CHRISTINE JENNINGS GET EVERY VOTE COUNTED

Dear Florida Democrats,

It wouldn't be a Florida election without ballot problems and a recount, would it?

The Florida Democratic Party needs YOUR help to ensure problems are uncovered and all the votes are counted in the automatic recount that is about to begin in Congressional District 13. Initial returns show less than 400 votes separate Democrat Christine Jennings from her Republican opponent.

Please contribute today to ensure we send Christine Jennings to Congress.

We need help fielding teams of canvassers to go door-to-door to document any problems that occurred in Sarasota County. This effort will cost tens of thousands of dollars to conduct. Will you help us raise $20,000 in the next 48 hours to show the Republicans we are serious about this? We're not going to let them take this seat without a fight.

The latest vote tallies for Congressional District 13 - the seat formerly held by Katherine Harris - have the race down to a razor-thin margin, with Christine down just 364 votes.

"Yet those results might be challenged, as numerous voters reported problems casting ballots. Several said the electronic voting system didn't always show their votes, while others said they didn't even see the race on their ballots."

It appears that thousands of votes in Sarasota County may have gone missing in the District 13 race. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported on the serious problem early today:

"The results were loaded with controversy as nearly 13 percent of all ballots cast in Sarasota didn't include a choice for Congress. That difference, and scattered reports of difficulty finding the race on Sarasota's touchscreen ballots, raised concerns about under votes in the race." "(Supervisor of Elections Kathy) Dent said her workers ran a great election and she did not know the exact causes of a 18,000-vote difference between the total number of ballots cast in Sarasota and those cast in the 13th race."


The latest results show that while more than 140,000 Sarasota County voters went to the polls and voted in the race for U.S. Senate, less than 124,000 were recorded for the Congressional race - an unusually large under vote disparity.

According to the latest results:

- In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Bill Nelson beat Republican Katherine Harris 80,038 to 58,238.

- In the Congressional race, Democrat Christine Jennings beat Republican Vern Buchanan 65,367 to 58,534.

This vote drop-off was not seen in any of the other counties in District 13. Moreover, most of the other countywide elections registered more votes than the hotly contested District 13 - e.g. almost 10,000 more votes were recorded for a county charter amendment than the Congressional race.

Something's not right.

Please contribute what you can today to ensure we figure out what happened and send Christine Jennings to Congress. Your contribution will directly fund field teams on the ground in Sarasota County who will go door-to-door to document any problems that occurred.

Help us raise $20,000 in the next 48 hours to get the recount effort off to a good start. Please contribute now!

Please stay tuned for an update as the situation progresses. Thank you again for your support of a New Direction for America.

Sincerely,

Karen Thurman
Florida Democratic Party

let the Florida Democrats down.

First McBride (sacrificial lamb), then David (complete unknown)

Here's a logic puzzle---

Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties are *by far* the bluest and *most populated* counties
in the state.









Broward's turnout ~44%
Miami Dades turnout ~37%
(Can't find Palm Beach County's--which is less populated in comparison)

Maybe, just maybe, if the Dem "Leadership" in Florida would stop playing by the central and northern Republican's tunes....and focus on getting a gubenatorial candidate from South Florida who inspires South Floridians...

Had there been a South Floridian candidate for governor, I bet you dollars to donuts that she/he would have beat the self-loathing closeted fraud, Crist.

Local leaders down here in South Florida estimate that a 50% turnout would've turned the tide for governor...

Plus-- Crist has name/face recognition in a big way and outspent David 8 to 1...

Jennings will get my support and money--but directly-- not through the pathetic Dem leadership in this state.

He is well known down there. Might have made a BIG difference if he was listed first on the ticket.

I understand giving to help pay for labor/manhours for doing a paper ballot recount. But with machines, all they do is look at the SAME reciept again. Nothing to recount. And THAT is the problem. That was the game plan all along. A total cover up of mistakes.

Sounds like this election was ripped away from us.

Is it just me, or does it seem like Florida didn't join in the Democratic 'sweep' the rest of the country had.....

and since the U.S. House (which will be democratically controlled) is the final arbitor in house races....things may get very interesting.

http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB867AMAUE.html

Recounts involving touch-screen systems that lack a paper trail are usually inconclusive, so this case could be headed for the courts, said Chris Sautter, a Democratic recount expert. A strong court case could pave the way for the incoming Democratic House to step in because the U.S. Constitution makes the House the final arbiter in House races, Sautter said.

At the heart of Jennings' argument is that 18,382 voters who cast ballots didn't vote for anyone in the race to succeed Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Longboat Key. That's about 15,000 more undervotes than in the last midterm election. An undervote occurs when a ballot is cast without voting in a particular race.

If Democrats can prove a technical glitch caused the undervote, they will argue that Jennings won nearly 53 percent of the Sarasota County vote. If that percentage is applied to the undervotes, that would add enough to Jennings' total to reverse the outcome.

There are other reasons for the undervote, including a nasty campaign that could have disheartened voters enough to ignore the race, said Buchanan spokeswoman Sally Tibbetts.

"If there's a recount, then we're confident that Vern will emerge from the recount," she said. The district covers portions of Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee and Sarasota counties.