February 8, 2008

Contact: Shripal Shah – (202) 226-7524 or
Kyle Anderson – (202) 384-3305

Task Force Dismisses Contest of 2006 Election

Washington, DC – This morning, the Committee on House Administration's Election Task Force unanimously passed a motion to dismiss the contest of the 2006 election in Florida’s 13th Congressional District. The Task Force arrived at the decision after the Government Accountability Office presented a final report that outlined the results of their own independent testing of the voting machines used in Sarasota County. Their testing, conducted between November 27, 2007 and December 4, 2007, concluded with reasonable assurance that that the voting machines did not contribute to the large under vote.

View the February 8th Election Task Force Meeting video. 

Read a Full Copy of the GAO’s Report

The Task Force requested the GAO’s assistance in conducting the investigation in order to get a complete and thorough review of the contest by an independent third party. In October the GAO determined that while prior tests provided some assurance, additional testing could provide increased assurance that the voting machines used in the election did not contribute to the under vote. 

“With reasonable assurance, the GAO has ruled out the likelihood that the voting machines used in this contest contributed to the under vote,” said Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez (TX-20), Chairman of the Committee’s Task Force.

“This investigation served a critical role in fulfilling the House’s constitutional responsibility when seating members of Congress. From the beginning, this Task Force deemed it necessary to have a thorough, independent, nonpartisan review of the contested election, and that is exactly what the GAO provided.”

The Task Force’s motion to dismiss the contest will be reviewed by the full Committee on House Administration before coming to the House floor for a vote by the entire chamber.