In a briefing yesterday, Lowell Finley (from VoterAction), one of the lead attorneys for the nonpartisan voters' case against Sarasota election officials and ES&S, spoke about two hearings that were held this week. A "motion to compel" had been filed to force ES&S and the state to turn over the source code of the I-Votronic machines, as well as to allow the actual machines to be examined.

Finley and the other attorneys for the plaintiffs (including Matt Zimmerman of EFF) seem to feel that the hearings went well. ES&S was not willing to put any of their employees on the stand -- not wishing to open them up to cross-examination -- and only had one expert witness, who in the course of his testimony seemed to contradict himself and perhaps even implicate ES&S's co-defendants (the county election officials) as the cause of the undervotes.

The plaintiffs felt that the judge was quite engaged in the hearings; he paid close attention, took notes, asked sharp questions, and didn't put up with grandstanding or badgering by the defense attorneys. The judge let the hearings go long in order to hear all the testimony and has asked for written closing statements by Friday at noon. We can all hope that he rules on the motion very soon afterward.

Here are some images from yesterday's rally in Sarasota.  Enjoy!

This is a message Chellie Pingree sent from the Revote Rally in Florida:

I wanted to post a short message before I leave Sarasota and take this chance to say to all of you who joined our "virtual rally" today (or at least were thinking about it!) -- thank you!

In Sarasota, there was a great crowd-- by some estimates 1,000 people gathered together. These dedicated people came out on a beautiful sunnyafternoon, they gave up a day at the beach, or a chance to catch up on some football viewing or extra time with the grand-kids, because they thought it was important to let it be known that they were not going to stand for Florida's Congressional District 13 being the "poster child" of what is wrong with voting in our country.

You all know the story: 18,000 votes can't be accounted for and it appears that electronic voting machines are the problem. Yet some officials have argued that voters were casting their vote in the other races but somehow ignoring the highly publicized, closely contested race for the Congressional seat that most recently belonged to Katherine Harris.

Setting aside all the history for a minute, here is the important part, hundreds and hundreds of people came together today to say that they believe that what electronic voting machines did to their vote is unacceptable. There was chanting, singing, and speakers, there were demands for a REVOTE and a cry for change - people who wanted to "put their foot down" to make itclear that this can't keep happening in America.

I'll tell you a little more about what the speakers spoke of and what the angry citizens talked about, when I land back in DC and can post a few photos and write a longer tale. Until then, I wanted to pass along one thought:

After the rally speakers said their piece and the reporters and rally goers descended on me to ask questions and make connections, there was one thing that I heard more than anything else. That was that the people there were really grateful for all of you. While I was speaking I had let them know that we asked our Common Cause members all over the country to take an action I support of the rallygoers - to let Jeb Bush know that they felt a revote was essential - and over and over people came up to talk with me and to say how excited theywere to know that the rest of the country was watching and supporting them in Florida. Many of them were feeling that, once again, "Florida is the new Florida," and their problems will never be fixed. When I told people that everywhere I go and talk about the problem with voting someone asks me about FL-13, many of them were genuinely surprised, and maybe felt just a little less isolated in their outrage. So, when you wonder what difference it makes to push the button on your computer that sends an email to a politician or adds your name to a petition, I want to remind you that it does make a difference. I saw it today in the voices of voters who were chanting and waving signs demanding a REVOTE, who were demanding that their votes should matter and their voices should be heard, and in their feeling of gratitude when they knew you were there with them!

Update: You can experience the rally through words and pictures: check out JR's Diary on Daily Kos.

Update: Already, about 2,000 people have taken action in support of this rally by joing our "virtual rally" by sending a message to Gov. Jeb Bush.

As I write this, our president, Chellie Pingree, is preparing to speak at a big rally being held in Bayfront Park in Sarasota, Florida, to protest the certification of the Jennings-Buchanan race in Florida's Congressional District #13.

The fact is, more than 18,000 votes in this race were never counted, and never will be. Why? Because they were cast on ES&S I-Votronic paperless electronic voting machines, and for some reason, the machines neglected to register more than 15 percent of the votes cast in this race. (By comparison, slightly more than two percent of absentee voters failed to vote for one of these two candidates.)

Governor Jeb Bush and his Elections Canvassing Board decided to certify the race anyway -- an outrageous decision, when the margin of votes between the two candidates now stands at fewer than 400.

That's why Common Cause is joining the Florida voters at the rally to demand a REVOTE. It's the only solution to this election debacle.

I wish I were there in Sarasota, and maybe you do, too. However, we can add our voices to those of the folks at the rally; we can send a message to Jeb Bush and tell him than a REVOTE is the only was to determine the real winner in Florida's District #13.