Four House races still to be decided

Nearly two weeks after the election, and there are still four U.S. House races to be decided in the South -- two due to slim margins of victory, and two more thanks to run-offs (Texas 23rd district and Louisiana's 2nd).

In North Carolina District 8, Democratic challenger Larry Kissell has formally asked for a recount in his contest with incumbent Rep. Robin Hayes (R):

“With the exception of Mecklenburg County, the same county which I won with 68 percent, the provisional ballots have been counted and I trail Robin Hayes by less than 400 votes. That is less than 1⁄2 of a percentage point,” Kissell said Friday afternoon. [...]

After a review of provisional ballots, Kissell picked up votes in many of the district's 10 counties Thursday and Friday but not enough to unseat Hayes. Kissell is first requesting a machine recount, but suggests he will proceed to a hand recount if necessary:

“Because we've witnessed numerous ballots that have been ‘checked' or ‘X'd' instead of bubbled-in, I still contend that a hand-eye recount may be required to settle this election once and for all. I personally owe it to voters of the 8th district to work day and night until we are satisfied that every voter's intent has been correctly counted.”

Today, state election officials are also likely to certify the results in Florida District 13, where the mysterious disappearance of 18,382 "undervotes" in Sarasota County -- in an election where Republican Vern Buchanan leads Democrat Christine Jennings by less than 400 votes -- likely swung the election. The 14% undervote in the House race compares to just a 1% undervote for the state-wide U.S. Senate race.

The Sarasota County election chair -- Kathy Dent, a Republican -- insists nothing went wrong in the race, despite a growing body of evidence to the contrary. In a poll of 300 voters conducted by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, fully one-third reported having problems just like those that contributed to the undervote:

Jorge Hernandez walked into his polling station in Sarasota this month well versed in the issues and eager to vote in the District 13 congressional race.

He left feeling he had dodged a bullet.

Hernandez said he pressed the touch-screen to cast a vote for Democrat Christine Jennings. But just before he submitted his vote, a review screen showed the race was blank.

After asking a poll worker to correct the problem, it got him thinking. What if he hadn't checked?

"I was within a second of going because I was in a hurry," said Hernandez, 44. "I almost missed it and would have been an undervote."

More than 100 Sarasota County residents said their votes in the congressional race were not recorded after passing through the ballot for the first time, according to a Herald-Tribune survey. Dozens said they never saw the race listed on the ballot. Some who missed the race left without casting a vote.

The race will likely be certified for Buchanan today, but it's far from over: powerful teams of lawyers have gathered on both sides -- including familiar faces from past Florida election battles.