WASHINGTON — Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi’s pledge to bring bipartisan peace to that most partisan of institutions -- the House of Representatives -- could be put to a test early in the

new Congress by an election dispute in Florida. When the Democratic-controlled Congress convenes in January, Pelosi may have to decide whether to seek to deny the certified GOP winner of a

Florida House seat from taking office. Republican Vern Buchanan was declared the winner by 369 votes. Democrat Christine Jennings has gone to court seeking a new vote, asserting that the

electronic voting machines malfunctioned. A court hearing is set for Tuesday. And Jennings plans to file papers with the House by Wednesday’s deadline contesting the election results and

“poisoning of the well by depth charge.” “This is a first major test for Nancy Pelosi,” added Ed Patru, a spokesman for the House Republican Conference. “Will she side with the voters of the

13th District? ... Or will she make a blatant partisan power grab?” Any effort to prevent Buchanan from taking office would have to be approved by the full House. If Pelosi decides to

pursue that route, her new majority presumably would vote for it. But a source close to the Democratic leadership, who requested anonymity when discussing party strategy, said Pelosi

probably would let Buchanan take office while ordering an investigation by the House Administration Committee into whether a new election was warranted. Pelosi is being pressed by Democratic

activists to take a tougher stance and block Buchanan from being sworn in. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told Florida’s Bay News 9 this month: “You cannot seat someone

if you don’t have an election that’s valid.” The liberal organization MoveOn.org delivered a petition to Capitol Hill on Friday urging Congress to order a new election. Historically, denying

certified winners their seats can be the political equivalent of a bare-knuckles brawl on Capitol Hill. In 1984, partisan tensions ran high in a dispute over what came to be known as

Indiana’s “Bloody 8th” district. In that race, Republican Richard McIntyre had been declared the winner by 34 votes one day after the election and by 418 votes after a state-ordered recount.

But the Democratic-controlled House refused to seat him. For a time, both McIntyre and Democratic incumbent Frank McCloskey drew congressional pay, but neither was officially seated. Six

months later, after another recount, McCloskey was declared the victor by four votes. Republicans cried foul and stormed out of the chamber when McCloskey was seated. Then-Rep. Pat Roberts

(R-Kan.), now a senator, said at the time, “This wound will not heal without a terrible price and a scar that will not disappear for many years.” Indeed, the ill will sparked by the dispute

helped empower GOP insurgents in the House who were prodding their leaders to more aggressively battle the then-entrenched Democratic majority on a range of issues. The current dispute

involves the seat that Republican Katherine Harris gave up to make a Senate run, which was unsuccessful. In 2000, Harris was Florida’s secretary of state and oversaw the state’s bitterly

contested recount of presidential ballots. In that role, she ultimately certified that George W. Bush narrowly carried the state and, with it, won the White House. This year’s flap does not

focus on hanging chads, but on voting machines. Jennings has contended that 17,811 ballots cast in Sarasota County -- almost 1 in 5 ballots -- made no choice in the House race, a

significantly higher rate than in other areas in the district. Jennings, who carried Sarasota County, 53% to 47%, alleges that an electronic foul-up is the most logical explanation for the

large number of blank votes. Buchanan’s camp depicts Jennings as a sore loser. “The votes have been recounted twice -- confirming Vern Buchanan won the election,” said his spokeswoman, Sally

Tibbetts. “It is time for Christine Jennings to ... concede this election.” But Jennings spokeswoman Kathy Vermazen said the fight was an important national test of the reliability of

electronic voting machines. “This case, for better or for worse, provides probably the best chance we have to really take a look at these machines,” she said. In part because of the

contested election, efforts are underway in Congress to require a paper trail for computer voting. The dispute has created an awkward moment: Both candidates showed up for a freshman

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