On Nov. 9, the People For the American Way Foundation announced that it had written to Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist (who is now the state's governor-elect) and Florida Secretary of State Sue Cobb about the issue. In the letter (), Ralph Neas, the organization's president, urged an independent non-partisan investigation into the matter.

"Numerous voters in Sarasota County have reported that when the summary screen appeared on some of the county's Election Systems & Software voting machines, no vote had been recorded," the group said in a statement accompanying the letter. "Some voters were able to go back and record a vote, but others suspect they were never given a meaningful opportunity to cast a vote in that race."

Neas, in his letter, suggested that the evidence strongly points to "some sort of flaw in the voting machines, perhaps in their design or the graphic presentation on the screen."

Another voter watchdog group, Common Cause of Florida, seconded the call for an investigation. "More than 18,000 voters -- nearly 13 percent of those who showed up at the polls -- cast votes in other races but not the closely contested House," the group said in a statement released Friday. "It represents a massive undercount compared to other counties, including Manatee, which reported an undercount of 2 percent."

"Sarasota County election officials must conduct a revote," Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause's Florida office, said in the statement. "The machines should be impounded, audited and tested to determine if voters were unable to cast a ballot and why. A 13 percent undercount is unacceptable and this election should not be certified. Sarasota County voters deserve an explanation."