Do '500' Protestors Represent '18,000' Undervotes??? Matt Bruce
Managing Editor & Publisher, News Sarasota   Newsbull Columnists Network 

So Now The Question Is: Do '500' Protestors Represent '18,000' Undervotes???

SARASOTA, FL. (NS/AP) --

With arguments about "ballot design, machine error, statistical probabilities," more than 500 people attended a "Re-Vote Rally" held at Sarasota's Bayfront Park on Sunday calling for a revote in the 13th Congressional District race...

18,000 undervotes were cast in Sarasota County. But nobody seems to want to hear that 11,000 undervotes were cast in Charlotte County in the FL State Attorney General's race...

Did people people intentionally skip the 13th District Congressional race? And how bout the Charlotte County undervote, what happened there?

Ironically the same touchscreen voting machines were used in Charlotte County and nobody's said a word about the results...

Election results in Sarasota County showed that fewer people voted in the Congressional race between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings than in the race for a county hospital board seat...

But everybody knows that a large degree of 'Voter apathy' as well as people who may have problems casting their vote but saying nothing until AFTER they left the voting place is the real reason for what's happened...

Several groups, though, did bring members to the rally, including People for the American Way, Common Cause and Voter Action, which has filed suit in Tallahassee for a revote. Grass-roots groups from Pinellas County and Miami, which are lobbying for an end to touch-screen voting in their locales, also brought members. But there were also many local Democrats attending the rally....

Rev. Charles McKenzie, from St. Petersburg, the Florida coordinator for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, got the crowd at Bayfront Park shouting, "Give us the revote," as Rev. McKenzie chanted the phrase.

Rally-goers also were seen sporting buttons calling for "Paper not Vapor," and waved signs reading, "Honk for a revote," "Revote to Revive our Trust," and "Touch my screen, no one will ever know."

Common Cause President, Chellie Pingree, told the audience, "What you do today makes a huge difference," Pingree said. "We are here to stand behind you to call for a revote."

Christine Jennings was also seen at the event walking amongst the Re-Vote Rally crowd...

Jennings has filed suit asking for a revote or to have the election overturned and for the court to declare her the winner. In a court filing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Charles Stewart said the odds were 5 million to one against such a large undervote occurring by chance...

Meanwhile the Buchanan campaign, though, argues that there is no evidence that electronic voting machines malfunctioned...

While the contested congressional race provided the spark for the rally, Jennings and Buchanan were infrequently mentioned by speakers, who focused on what they called the unreliability of voting systems that don't provide a voter-verified paper ballot...

However, you've just got to wonder why only '500' people showed up for a Rally that involved some 18,000 undervotes. Does this mean that 17,500 people have accepted the election results and have had no problem with the result???

Indeed it might very well be the case, but nobody knows for sure. Once thing is currently known for sure and that is Vern Buchanan has been declared the official winner in the FL. District 13 Congressional race by some 369 votes and he will be sworn in and taking his Congressional seat on January the 4th, 2007...

Is there anything that is currently going on that will change this? Probably not...

If Christine Jennings succeeds in having the final decision brought to the floor of the Congress, there are also 9 other Congressional races that were decided by 1,500 votes or less that could also come under scrutiny that 'might' actually cost the Democrats some Congressional seats. This is because it wouldn't be fair to not include those other races under the same category Christine Jennings is trying to place FL District 13 in...

So, you'd better be careful what you wish for as it could come back to haunt you in the end...

For Now That's Just 'OUR' Opinion...

Matt Bruce
Managing Editor
News Sarasota.com
Host Of "The Captain's AMERICA" Radio Show

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::: From the Newsbull Weblog of: Matt Bruce
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