Florida's Anti Electronic Voting Recount Rule Declared Illegal

from the gotta-recount... dept

What is it with Florida and voting machines? The voting machines there have been shown to have serious problems that were known, but ignored, for a year. Then, there was this bizarre ruling that said that counties were prohibited from conducting manual recounts on e-voting results -- despite a law requiring manual vote recounts in certain situations. A lawsuit was filed, and a judge has now said that, indeed, this rule appears to break the law. 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? Of course, it won't matter for the upcoming election, because the Secretary of State is likely to appeal, pushing off the next decision until after the election.