Don't touch me!

More trouble for touchscreen voting. And who is more deserving?

Florida state law requires a manual recount of votes in any election decided by a small enough margin or when there's a proper and timely request.

But 15 counties in the state use touchscreen voting machines that provide no voter-verified printout. When elections supervisors in some of those counties asked the state what they should do, Secretary of State Glenda Hood issued a ruling banning manual recounts in touchscreen counties.

A coalition including government watchdogs and other interest groups sued the state, arguing the law requires provisions for hand recounts in every county, no matter what voting technology is used.

[On Friday], Administrative Law Judge Susan Kirkland agreed, writing that state law clearly contemplates "that manual recounts will be done on each certified voting system, including the touchscreen voting systems,"

reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The most likely outcome will be that Hood will appeal, delaying any change until after the elections, even though election officials admit they could do a hand recount if they had to. It would be time-consuming, but it could be done.

However, an even better answer to those who think like Hood was offered by "Mike" in a posting on Techdirt.com:

Those who support the current e-voting machines are complaining that this ruling creates an impossible situation: they can't conduct manual recounts because there's nothing to count. They seem to be missing the point. If there's nothing to recount, then shouldn't that mean the machines don't conform to state laws?

Like they say, "there is nothing so obvious as the truth - once someone has said it."