A House task force will investigate allegations that voting machine errors contributed to the razor-thin victory by Republican Vern Buchanan (news, bio, voting record) in Florida's 13th Congressional District.
Democrat Christine Jennings, who was declared the loser to Buchanan by 369 votes in last fall's election, has contested those results with the House of Representatives.
A three-member House Administration Committee task force agreed by voice vote Wednesday to embark on a formal investigation.
The task force will examine what Jennings contends is a glitch in touchscreen voting machines that resulted in the disappearance of 18,000 votes in the congressional race.
I'm glad to see that the task force is moving ahead despite the sad loss of committee chair Juanita Millender-McDonald recently.
Speaking of which, CQ also notes that Rep. Bob Brady of PA (currently the acting committee chair) is likely to get tapped as Millender-McDonald's permanent replacement, assuming he loses the May 15th mayoral primary in Philly (which looks likely). I can't say that I'm inspired by this choice, as Brady is very much an old-school machine politician and the House Administration Committee performs an important oversight role. I'd prefer a reformer, but let's see if Brady surprises us. And so far, the move to a formal investigation is the right one.
