Election disputes have been headline news in the state for several years. In November, the losing candidate in a disputed Florida congressional election filed a lawsuit contending that glitches in e-voting machines in Sarasota County were the main reason for some 18,000 allegedly undercounted, or missing, votes there in the Nov. 7, 2006, election.

The state's much-publicized, vote-counting problems surfaced during the contentious 2000 presidential election that saw Republican George W. Bush win the state -- and the presidency -- over Democrat Al Gore after the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and stopped a recount of votes in Florida.