Disputed Florida race not over yet

Looks like the Florida Congressional election with 18,000 missing votes will be taken up by the House of Representatives.

Rep. Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat who has pushed for better safeguards on electronic voting machines, said on Friday he would make a procedural point to establish the swearing-in of Florida Republican Vern Buchanan does not prejudice ongoing challenges by his Democratic opponent, Christine Jennings.

"This is a district, Sarasota area in Florida, where there's no way of knowing whether the result presented by Florida's secretary of state is valid. In fact, I think there is significant evidence that it is not," Holt told reporters.

Buchanan was certified the winner of the November 7 election by a 369-vote margin. Oddly, about 18,000 ballots in Sarasota County had no votes recorded for the disputed House race, while other races on those ballots were voted on.

The disputed Florida seat had been held by Republican Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record), the former Florida secretary of state who certified George W. Bush as the winner of the disputed 2000 presidential race in Florida over
Al Gore.