Florida-13 Update

Melinda Hennebergerfor HuffPo reports that Election Systems & Software, the company that built the electronic voting machines used in Sarasota, Florida, for the contest between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings, had discovered a mechanical problem with the machines. The company had alerted Florida election officials so that voters could be forewarned, and provided instructional signage. But Kathy Dent, Sarasota Supervisor of Elections, disregarded the manufacturer's recommendation, and failed to notify voters of the potential problem. And then subsequently, when Jennnings filed suit seeking a new election because of machine malfunction, Florida election officials failed to turn over the company's correspondence in discovery motions for the trial.