Those missing 18,000 votes in Florida's 13th Congressional District may result in federal legislation, finally. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who has authored a bill mandating paper trails for electronic voting, is taking the lead in the Senate. And, this time, she has the power to make something happen:
Sarasota's voting controversy has given new life to election reform advocates in Congress, prompting the incoming leader of the House to make the issue a top priority for the new year and triggering hearings in the U.S. Senate.The GOP will oppose real election reform. Counting the votes usually works to their disadvantage -- in Florida anyway.
More than being just a battle over who won the 13th Congressional District, officials on Capitol Hill say what happened in Sarasota has wider implications for the nation, giving a more substantive edge to what previously was mostly a theoretical debate over the reliability of touchscreen voting machines.
"What happened in Sarasota really does highlight the issue," said Howard Gantman, communications director for U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, a Democrat from California who is already vowing to hold hearings on the voting issues early in 2007.
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