FL: Jennings tries to stand test of time

Sun, May. 06, 2007
Bradenton Herald
By Stacey Eidson

for original article

Last fall, Christine Jennings watched as election returns rolled in late into the night Nov. 7 at her reception at Michael's on East in Sarasota.

Surrounded by supporters, Jennings remained upbeat.

As the Democratic candidate in the District 13 congressional race, Jennings had spent months engaged in one of the most contentious and expensive campaigns in the nation against Republican Vern Buchanan.

It would all soon be over. Or at least that is what she thought.

But reports earlier in the day of voting irregularities at the polls were already foreshadowing what lay ahead.

When Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent reported more than 18,000 undervotes were recorded in the congressional race and that less than 370 votes separated Jennings from Buchanan, questions were immediately raised.

Jennings quickly requested a recount as reports of "disappearing votes" became rampant in Sarasota County.

That was the beginning of a six-month journey that would result in Florida deciding to replace all of its touch-screen voting machines with systems that include paper trails and cause a U.S. House task force to demand a federal investigation of the District 13 election.

Left hanging in the balance is Jennings. Six months after the election, she is still waiting for answers. Still hoping that one day she will be referred to as, "Congresswoman Jennings."

"It has been a long six months, but I'm not bitter," Jennings said. "I think that we are helping everyone in the United States, frankly, because we have kept this at the forefront of the voting agenda. And I'm hopeful. I'm still hopeful that the investigation will give us an opportunity to have another election."

After learning last week that the House panel called for the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to review the touch-screen machines used in Sarasota County's November election, Jennings said she experienced "pure relief and joy.

"Many of us have worked a long time for the opportunity to put the hardware and software of those machines together to see what happened," Jennings said. "I mean, how can you just say to people, 'Your vote doesn't count.' I continually hear new stories from people about their voting problems on election day. I heard a man . . . who said he had a split screen when he voted. Vern's name was on the bottom of page one and my name was on the top of page two. Something went terribly wrong."

Getting to the source

For months, Jennings tried to gain access to the computer software and source code of the controversial touch-screen machines, but was denied by a Leon County circuit court judge, who ruled test results on the machines "revealed 100 percent accuracy."

Jennings has appealed the circuit court's decision, but has been waiting more than two months for a hearing.

"This long of a wait is very difficult for me to understand because we were put on an expedited basis because this is a critical issue," said Jennings, who has not yet decided whether to run for the District 13 seat in 2008.

"I have said it over and over. This is not about being a Democrat or a Republican. This is about our democracy. And for the Florida courts to not have moved this along faster, it's disappointing."

Reggie Mitchell, Florida legal counsel for the People for the American Way Foundation, which is among several groups suing for a new election for the 13th District, also criticized the court for taking so long.

"It is only a two-year term of office, so you would think that they would give it a lot more expedited treatment," Mitchell said. "I can't explain that. Obviously, there is no reason for this to go on this long without any explanation or without any action. It is hurting the voters that we represent."

The circuit court judge also ruled that revealing the source code would jeopardize the trade secrets of the voting machines' manufacturer, Election Systems & Software. That decision baffled Jennings.

"You could almost say that they have put profits above people's voting rights," she said. "When you think about the fact that a private company can control our voting system in the United States. Who wants to accept that?"

No one would tolerate such attitudes in daily life, Jennings said.

"I was the bank president of Sarasota Bank and, if over a weekend, 18,000 people had a problem at the ATMs when they requested $100, but they all only got $80, that would be a significant concern," Jennings said. "And if on Monday, when I came in and my office was flooded with phone calls and e-mails, I don't think it would be acceptable for me to say, 'Those machines work fine. I think it is your fault. You all probably requested $80 because we are in balance.' That would be unacceptable. The same is true here."

Meanwhile, her rival . . .

While Jennings continues to wage her battle over the election's results in court, Buchanan has spent his first 100 days in Congress visiting troops in Iraq, introducing a bill that would amend the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget, working for better rights for veterans and developing the "Clay Moore Child Abduction Prevention Act" that would require a minimum 30-year sentence for an illegal immigrant convicted of kidnapping a child.

Minutes after leaving the House floor one day last week, Buchanan said he does not have time to dwell on the dispute over the election.

"It's a little distracting, but what I'm more disappointed about is Christine Jennings is costing the taxpayers a lot of money by dragging this out," Buchanan said. "She sued not only me, but the county, the state and the canvassing board. She is now going to cost the federal government time and money. And it is just sad, frankly."

The state has conducted an audit of the voting machines, the votes have been recounted on two different occasions and there is still no indication that machines malfunctioned, Buchanan said.

"There is not one shred of evidence anywhere. Not one," Buchanan said. "I think the machines work. I mean, how many experts do we have to have look at them and how many times do we have to check them?"

The investigation requested by the House panel could result in Buchanan remaining in the seat, Jennings being seated, or another election being called. But Buchanan maintains he is the rightful winner of the District 13 race.

"I am very confident, when you look at the history of elections, when people get certified, they don't get overturned," he said. "And in this process, it is not like this is a four-year seat. People talk about a revote, she does get a revote in two years if she wants it."

"I think at the end of the day, the truth is, we have won at every turn," Buchanan said. "Even the judge has said it is a frivolous lawsuit. I mean, I don't know how many times people have to be told the machines work. But I do believe whatever system the voters are comfortable with, if it's paper trail or whatever, I'm supportive of it. I think whatever gives people confidence, I think that is important."

For Kindra Muntz, the chairwoman of the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections, the organization that collected the required 12,030 signatures to place a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot asking voters in Sarasota County if they wanted a paper trail, the state's decision to stop the use of touch-screen machines is an enormous victory.

"Positive things are happening and it is about time. It's way overdue," Muntz said. "We need to make sure that every voter is treated equally and no voter should be left behind. And I truly believe Florida could be a leader for the nation in critical areas of election reform regarding voting machines."

Not only should the entire state have a paper trail, but there also should be mandatory, random audits of each election, Muntz said.

"That's what makes paper ballots meaningful," Muntz said. "Having the paper ballots alone is not good enough. You have to have random audits of the election results to make sure the machines are tallying the votes correctly."