Howard Dean wants a do-over in the close race in Florida's 13th District, won by Republican Vern Buchanan by only 369 votes over Democratic nominee Christine Jennings. The seat was vacated by Rep. Katherine Harris, who won the GOP nomination for Senate but lost to incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. From the Yahoo! - Associated Press report:

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean called for another election in the race to replace Rep. Katherine Harris, saying the declared Republican winner should not be sworn in until election questions are sorted out.

"You cannot seat someone if you don't have an election that's valid," Dean said in a taped interview scheduled to air Sunday on a Tampa Bay area news channel. The St. Petersburg Times reported the comments in its Thursday editions.

Democrat Christine Jennings is contesting her loss to Republican Vern Buchanan and has sued for a new election. On Thursday, Jennings said she will ask the U.S. House to take the extreme measure of conducting its own investigation into the election.

State officials certified Buchanan as the winner by just 369 votes. But Jennings claims that touch-screen voting machines in Sarasota County malfunctioned in the U.S. House District 13 race and possibly cost her the election.

Read the whole story at the link above. The controversy stems from the "undervote" in Sarasota county, where voters failed to vote for the Congressional race at a higher rate than in the rest of the district. One possible explanation is the ties both parties' gubernatorial nominees had to Sarasota, which could account for more interest in that race locally.

Nonetheless, there remains no evidence of "malfunctioning voting machines." A close result doesn't justify a new election. Jennings' best hope is that the new Democratic House majority will simply declare her the winner, which would not be without precedent.

UPDATED to correct: It's the 13th Congressional District, not the 16th. I've changed it above and in the title. Thanks to reader "ironman" for the correction.