ith Republican and Democratic leaders—are deciding now if Congress will tolerate this broken election or call for a new one.

The decision could come any day—and once it's made, it's hard to reverse. Can you sign this petition urging Congress to call for a re-vote in Sarasota, Florida and to repair our nation's elections? And then ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://pol.moveon.org/floridaelection/?id=9601-1573623-eREljJP4mf_xfon1KaCdbg&t=2

Here's what the petition says: "In the wake of Florida's electronic voting machine meltdown, Congress should call for a re-vote and repair our nation's elections."

Our voices could make the critical difference. There's precedent for calling a new election and Congress has the authority, but it's a bold step. Pelosi and the Congress need to know that people are behind them.

No matter what party you're for, we can all agree we need to repair our broken voting machines so a recount is possible in a close election. Otherwise, no one will trust our elections. That's why it's so important for us to speak up—and ask our friends, family, and co-workers to join us—as soon as possible. We'll deliver your signature to the new House leadership this week—and the total number of signatures will appear in a full-page New York Times ad that Congress will see next week.

A re-vote in Sarasota will make sure every vote is counted in Florida—and focus the nation's attention on the security weakness of paperless voting machines. Shining a national spotlight on this voting crisis will strengthen calls for repairs to our broken election system, including a voter-verified paper record of every vote cast and manual audits of the vote.

The electronic vote tally puts Democrat Christine Jennings just 369 votes behind Republican Vern Buchanan—and the voting problems happened in a Democratic county, so the 18,000 missing votes would almost certainly change the outcome.2 Of course, some people choose not to vote in certain races. But there's no reason this would be six times more common in Sarasota County than in neighboring counties in the same House district—the only difference between the counties was the electronic voting machines.3

Howard Dean has just declared support for a re-vote.4 But Congress is reluctant to get involved, so we need to make sure they'll do the right thing. The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the authority to call for a re-vote. The House intervened in a similar case as recently as 1985.5 The last re-vote in a congressional election was in 1975.6

Together, we can make sure Congress calls for a re-vote in Florida and repairs our elections nationwide. Sign the petition today at:

http://pol.moveon.org/floridaelection/?id=9601-1573623-eREljJP4mf_xfon1KaCdbg&t=3

Thank you for all you do.

–Noah, Ilyse, Ben, Carrie, Eli, and the whole MoveOn.org Political Action Team

Monday, December 11th, 2006

P.S. MoveOn members raised more than $60,000 to support a lawsuit by the non-partisan election watchdogs at Voter Action seeking a re-vote in Sarasota, Florida. The Democratic Party is also fighting for a re-vote in court.

Sources:

1. "Did voting machines steal a Democratic victory?," Salon, November 22, 2006

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2231&id=9601-1573623-eREljJP4mf_xfon1KaCdbg&t=4

2. "House May End Up in 13th District Feud," The Ledger, November 9, 2006

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2229&id=9601-1573623-eREljJP4mf_xfon1KaCdbg&t=5

3. "FL-13: Nitty Gritty," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, November 14, 2006

http://www.dccc.org/stakeholder/archives/005572.html

4. "Dean calls for revote in Sarasota," Associated Press, December 8, 2006

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2260&id=9601-1573623-eREljJP4mf_xfon1KaCdbg&t=6

5. C-SPAN's Capitol Questions, May 3, 2000

http://www.c-span.org/questions/weekly93.asp

6. "The CQPolitics Interview: Christine Jennings (Fla. 13)," New York Times, December 6, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2006/12/06/cq_2012.html

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